The Marauders and the Horcrux Hunt
by teenage.tradgedy
Summary: In an alternate universe where the Marauders and Lily finish reading the Harry Potter series, they set out on a journey to find the Horcruxes, and ultimately to defeat Lord Voldemort before it's too late. Will they be able to complete the impossible? SEQUEL TO THE MARAUDERS AND THE SORCERER'S STONE (taken down for copyright reasons).
1. The End

**Hey everyone! So since my Marauders + Lily reading the books keep getting taken down because of copyright issues, I'm going to do what I'd always planned on doing….**

 **I present to you: THE MARAUDERS AND THE HORCRUX HUNT**

 **Where the characters are at this point should become clear in this chapter, but basically they've read all seven books, and in this chapter are talking to Dumbledore after reading The Deathly Hallows**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

" **The scar had not pained Harry in nineteen years. All was well."**

A deafening silence fell over the five seventh years, settled comfortably in the Head Girl and Boys' private dormitories, on settees identical to those in the Gryffindor Common Room.

The summer sun illuminated the small common room, the walls a deep maroon, small patches where photographs had been put up by the Head Boy, to the irritation and amusement of the Head Girl, slightly lighter than the rest of the wall following freedom from dust and wear over the ten month period of occupation. The carpeted floor stopped at two spiral staircases, side by side, behind the sofas and across from the fireplace, above which a large photograph of Sirius Black sat, charmed to wink at those passing by; a house-warming gift from the Animagus. Despite her best attempts, the Head Girl was unable to remove it, and eventually grew accustomed to hearing Sirius' sniggers in her small living room.

A cloud passed by the sun briefly, the resumed sunlight falling onto two packed trunks resting by the exit of the dormitories, an empty owls' cage settled on top of the trunk to the left, the owl in question being out on a delivery. The train was to leave the next afternoon, following the morning graduation.

Sirius was the first to stir, naturally, letting out a low whistle as he turned to face James, who was staring, stunned, at the book in Remus' hands. The noise caused Lily, who had been sitting between James' legs, leaning against him, to twitch, her eyes, wide and confused, to shift over to Sirius.

"So, that happened," Peter squeaked uncomfortably, and James rolled his eyes, finally showing a sign of movement, as Remus let out a breathless chuckle.

"I can't believe it's over," Lily murmured quietly, turning slightly to look at James, who smiled slightly, pressing his lips against Lily's temple, "What do we do now?"

"Hunt horcruxes, of course," James said simply.

* * *

"I expected as much," Dumbledore chuckled, his eyes drifting between the five Gryffindors, eyes lingering on Peter Pettigrew, before resolving to rest on James, "And where do you intend to begin?"

"Well, we were thinking," Lily said timidly, and Dumbledore's eyes shifted to her face as James rolled his eyes, "Well, at least, _I_ was thinking," she added, brushing her hair out of her face exasperatedly, "Are we entirely sure all of the horcruxes have been made?"

"Lily weren't you listening? Of course they've already been-"

"It's not like they specified a timeline-"

"A fair question, Ms. Evans," Dumbledore said gently, cutting the Head students off, having witnessed their heated arguments many times before in this very office. It was clear, from their exasperation, that they had had this discussion before, and it would not bode well to waste time, "I can only guess, but I do believe Voldemort has already created many of his horcuxes," he said, not blind to the triumphant look James shot Lily, which she blatantly ignored.

"But how can you be so sure?" Remus implored, and Sirius let out an exasperated groan.

"Does it really matter?" Peter squeaked timidly, and the other four shot him irritable looks.

"Of course if fucking matters," Sirius snapped, earning a slap and a hissed ' _Sirius'_ from Lily, whose eyes shot to Dumbledore and back to her indignant friend, "If he hasn't made the damn things yet how are we supposed to find them?"

"Mr. Black is quite right Mr. Pettigrew," Dumbledore said calmly, as Sirius shot Peter another scathing look, the smaller boy shrinking slightly under the cruel look on the handsome boys face. While James had, after a few days of isolation, somehow managed to move past all that had occurred in the future, of the belief that he could not be angry about things that had not yet occurred. Sirius, on the other hand, having placed his trust in very few people throughout his life, had been unable to look at Peter the same.

"Mr. Lupin," Dumbledore continued, and Remus looked away from where he was exchanging a tired look with Lily, who was glancing worriedly at Sirius, "Naturally, I am having to apply a certain degree of guesswork, but I do stand by my notion that most of the horcruxes have, in fact, been created."

"How are you so certain?" James asked, "Sir," he added, after a nudge from Lily.

"Simply by what I have seen," Dumbledore replied serenely, "Having learnt what we have from Harry's tale, and the transformation Voldemort prior to, and after creating his horcruxes, I think it is a fair assessment to assume, given his appearance and the small bit of research I have carried out, that he has, in fact, succeeded in his task."

"And since Harry's not a horcrux, there will only be six to hunt down," Remus said, and Lily groaned.

"How do we know he's even got a giant snake at the moment though?" she asked, turning to shoot James a quelling look when he snorted, "And if he has, what's the say he put a piece of his soul in it?"

"I do not believe Voldemort has encountered Nagini yet," Dumbledore said calmly, "I am of the opinion that this interaction was made while he was in Albania following his exile from Professor Quirrell's body," he said, and Lily shuddered delicately, causing James to grin, "as that is where – well, where he was found by his servant," he added, and once again, Sirius shot Peter a dark look, "therefore you will need to track down the others. It is of my opinion, however, that the only ones we can be certain exist at this moment are the ring, the locket, the diadem, the diary, and the cup. However, we can only be certain of the whereabouts of the locket, ring and diadem at this moment."

"Which doesn't put us in the best position," Sirius finished bitterly, "How are we supposed to be stopping him when he keeps making more, or we're not certain of their location, or existence yet?" he asked, "We know about the ones Harry found, but what if he's made a few more that we're unaware of? Or he makes more while we're hunting? Or hasn't made some of them yet?"

"Mr. Black, you are disregarding the timeframe," Dumbledore said, smiling slightly at the agitated teen, "Prior to meeting his doom with Harry, I believe we can say with certainty that Voldemort had created all of his horcruxes, bar, of course, Harry and Nagini," he said, and Sirius visibly relaxed slightly, his brain catching up to where Dumbledore was headed.

"Therefore we should continue with the presumption that Voldemort created the locket, ring, diary, cup and diadem before meeting Harry," Remus finished, looking visibly more relaxed, nodding his head slightly.

"Precisely," Dumbledore smiled, and Lily smiled back at him, "I must, however, warn you of the danger of this journey you intend to set off on."

"With all due respect, Professor, nothing you can say is going to sway us," James said, before frowning slightly as his gaze turned to Lily, "Well, sway me, at least," he added, and Lily shot him an irritated look.

"Don't start this again," she said, clearly forgetting they were in the room with four others, "I am coming James Potter, and there is nothing you can do about it."

"There's no _need_ for you to come though, love," James said softly, raising his hand to stroke Lily's cheek, "how can I be expected to concentrate on the task when I'm worrying about you?"

The look he gave her had so much intensity, that Sirius, sitting on the other side of Lily, felt the need to avert his eyes, focusing instead on the portrait of Phineus Nigellus, pretending to be asleep, on the wall. He had never paid much attention to the speaking portrait in the room his parents had typically given out to visiting guests, but following what he had learned in Harry's fifth year, he had found himself staring at the portrait every time he was in this office with a strange feeling of mingled resentment and affection.

"That's your problem," she said, and James sighed, looking down at the floor, defeated, as Lily smiled at him. Sirius let out a bark of laughter, breaking the tension in the room.

"Told you," he said simply, and James shot him a sharp look as Remus smirked. Peter remained quiet.

"So where do we start?" Remus asked, turning to Dumbledore, who smiled.

"This is your journey, Mr. Lupin," he said, "that is something only the five of you can decide."

* * *

 **There you have it, chapter one! Let me know what you guys think!**

 **I'll give a lot more information on how they'd taken reactions to various points in the books throughout the story, but this is all you get for now!**

 **P.S.- I very much enjoy reviews!**

 **t.t**


	2. Civility

**I'll put my little authors note at the end- enjoy!**

* * *

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor am I J.K. Rowling, but I enjoy playing with her characters!**

* * *

"So where should we get started?" Sirius said, clapping his hands together as the five of them settled comfortably in the small flat above Diagon Alley he had bought with the money he had inherited from his great uncle. They had decided to use it as their base, as they hunted for horcruxes, returning there after every adventure. A small door to their left led to a reasonably sized kitchen, and to their right turned a small corridor, leading towards two bedrooms, Sirius' and a guest.

"Can't we sleep first?" Remus whined, rubbing at his eyes as he plopped himself down on his trunk. They had gone to Sirius' straight from Kings Cross. Their parents had all been told they were to be going travelling, which wasn't strictly a lie, but the dangerous nature of their journey was still a secret.

"We can't bloody _sleep_ -"

"Remus is right," Lily said gently, placing a hand on Sirius' arm, "We're not going to get much done if we're this tired."

"We can at least decide where we're going to start," James reasoned, whipping out his wand and transfiguring the large sofa in Sirius' living room into a double bed for him and Lily, "I mean, we can't just play this whole thing by ear. We can at least decide what we're going to do tomorrow."

"As long as I can bloody lie down while we're doing that," Remus grumbled, getting off his trunk to lie across the bed, ignoring the kick James directed at him.

"That's for me and Lily, you ponce."

"Bite me," Remus grumbled, stretching out, and Lily giggled at James' affronted expression.

"Transfigure your own bloody bed," James grumbled, flicking his wand and turning the bed into a single, causing Remus to glare at him, whip out his own wand and transfigure it back into a double.

"If you want a fucking double you're going to have to share," Sirius said, closing the blinds of the windows, "There's not much space and we're going to have to be efficient."

"Are you offering yourself as my bed buddy?" Remus snorted, quirking a brow at Sirius, who barked a laugh as Lily laughed.

"It's my flat, I have my own room," Sirius said, and Peter snickered as Remus huffed

"You can share with Peter," James added, and Peter stopped snickering at once, as Lily laughed.

"Why do we have to share?" Peter squawked, and Remus snorted.

"Because I doubt Prongs is going to let Lily share with anyone else," he added, and James nodded, causing Lily to roll her eyes.

"You don't control me James," she said, and James grinned.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, love," he said.

"Since when does 'whatever' translate you and your bloody furnace of a body?" Lily shot back, and James laughed, kissing her quickly.

"We're trying to save space and be efficient remember?" he said, and Sirius sniggered.

"Why don't you just have two singles in here?" Lily said, turning around to face Remus and ignoring her stupid boyfriend, who had the audacity to grin at his snickering best mate, and lean down to press a soft kiss to the back of her neck, "There's no point to a double bed when you don't get enough space," she added, throwing a pointed look over her shoulder at James, who shook his head fondly.

"We're not having two single beds, Lil-bit," he said, and Sirius sniggered.

"I didn't _say_ -"

"What shall we do for dinner?" Remus suggested, cutting off the tiff that would predictably follow, "I don't feel like cooking," he added, and Sirius snorted.

"Wasn't going to ask you to, I'd rather not have explosive diarrhea for the next week," he said, and Remus stuck his middle finger up at him.

"Why don't we get some take-away?" Lily suggested, nose scrunched in disgust, but otherwise ignoring the diarrhea comment as Peter sniggered.

"Don't think your muggle favourites are going to deliver here, love," James said, and Lily sighed, shooting him an exasperated look.

"There are restaurants in Diagon Alley, you turd," she said, and James laughed.

"You're far too easy to annoy, love," he said, and Lily winked at him, causing him to laugh again.

"I think take out is a good idea," Peter piped up. Lily didn't miss the way a dark shadow crossed Sirius' face every time he glanced at the boy.

"Sirius and I can go collect it, to make things quicker," she said, and Sirius shot her an annoyed look.

"What's the point of being able to order in if we have to go collect it?" he said exasperatedly, leaning down to open his trunk to begin unpacking.

"It'll be nice to get some fresh air," Lily insisted, walking over to Sirius' trunk, her red hair swaying slightly with the movement, and kicking it shut, Sirius managing to pull his fingers away at the last moment, "Now get up," she said, and Sirius grinned up at her, before standing.

"If what you want is some alone time, I'll be happy to oblige," he said, and James threw some balled up socks at Sirius from where he was rummaging around in his trunk, "You can share with me, I even stay on my side of the bed unlike _some_ people we know," he said, and James snorted, looking up from his trunk only briefly to shoot Sirius an amused look.

"As much as I appreciate the offer, one Marauder is more than enough," Lily laughed, throwing James a wink.

"She obviously means to say she's super in love with her boyfriend and wouldn't want to share with anyone else, ever," James said, and Lily grinned as he winked up at her. Sirius snorted, throwing the socks back at James, who caught them before they could hit him in the face.

"Will you _please_ go and get the Merlin-damned food then?" Remus groaned, and Lily laughed as Sirius shot the boy an amused look, "I'm fucking starving."

"Someone isn't the least bit polite today," Lily tutted, patting him lightly on the forehead, and Remus shot her an annoyed look.

"I'm hungry and tired, and we had a very emotional day," he said, and Lily smiled slightly. They had, indeed, left Hogwarts for the last time earlier that day, and it had taken a toll on all five of them. It marked the end of their childhood, of their innocence, pushing them into a world full of war, danger, death and responsibility.

"If you want, Lily, I'll come with you," Peter said, and Lily smiled sweetly at him as Sirius and James exchanged an apprehensive look.

"It's okay Pete, I want to spend some alone time with Sirius," she said, and Sirius whooped as James chuckled. Peter's face fell slightly.

"Knew it, let's go, before Moony eats one of us, or Prongs decides to jump you so I can't win you over," he said, leading Lily to the doorway and pushing her out onto the stairwell, hearing both boys snort as he shut the door behind them.

"I'll jump you when you get back!" James' voice yelled through the door, and Lily shook her head fondly as Sirius grinned down at her, throwing his arm around her shoulders in a brotherly fashion and leading them outside.

* * *

"Drop it," Sirius huffed, as they waited against the wall at some curry restaurant towards the end of Diagon Alley.

"Honestly, you need to move past it."

"I'm not discussing this."

"Sirius-"

"I said _drop it_ Lily."

"Stop interrupting," Lily yelled, stomping her foot and moving so she was no longer resting against the wall beside him, but standing in front of Sirius, arms crossed and face flushed an annoyed red. Sirius smirked.

"It's like you don't know me, flower."

"Don't be a prat," she said, huffing as she moved a lock of her damp fiery hair out of her face, her green eyes narrowed as she glared at Sirius. They had been arguing for the past twenty minutes, ever since they had left the flat. It had started to spit rain as they had been outside, and Lily's hair had grown to twice the volume in the humidity, amusing Sirius a great deal, "You can't keep behaving this way, it's going to make this entire…trip, I suppose is what it is, difficult and frankly, much more stressful than it was already destined to be," she said, and Sirius groaned.

"Lily, how many times do I have to tell you, I have no _interest_ in forgiving Pete," he near growled the name, rubbing the bridge of his nose irritably, as if massaging in some patience, "Because of him you and James died, and I ended up in Azkaban for twelve years!"

" _Listen_ to yourself, Sirius," she said quietly, taking a step forward to grab his hand in both of hers, her green eyes melting as she looked up into his dark gray ones. He huffed, looking away, "James and I are very much alive, and as far as I know, you haven't stepped foot in Azkaban," she said earnestly, watching as Sirius' shoulders dropped slightly, his eyes moving back to hers, "Although to be honest it wouldn't surprise me if you had," she added, and he laughed.

"Way to ruin a moment, Evans."

"Can't help it Black, old habits and all," she grinned, and Sirius shook his head, cursing the petite redhead for being able to comfort him in a way not even James could, "Look," she sighed, closing her eyes briefly, "I know nothing has been the same since we read that third book," she said, and Sirius' eyes flashed with anger at the mention of it, "It was horrible, and I have never seen James like that," she added, eyes dulling slightly as she remembered the horrible wreck her boyfriend had been. He trusted Sirius above all others, and reading that book had made him question everything he knew to be true. They had had to stop reading for a few days following after reading the conversation between McGonagall, Hagrid, Rosmerta, Flitwick and Fudge, as James had locked himself up in his dormitory, unwilling to admit anyone, including Lily. He had only emerged a few days later, rapping his bloody knuckles, no doubt from having punched the walls in his dormitory many times over those few days, on Lily's bedroom door, having decided that he refused to believe that Sirius would have sold them out, that there had to have been a mistake, and that Sirius had to have been wrongly convicted.

Lily had been more skeptical, but also knew deep down that Sirius would never betray the two of them, that he had a deep disgust for the Dark Arts, particularly after what he had witnessed from his family, and that he was extremely loyal to his family, who was James. James was Sirius' family. She and James had gone to the Marauders dormitory to find Remus and Peter in there alone, unaware of where Sirius had been for the past couple days. Lily had contacted Sirius using his and James' detention mirrors, and when he had come to the Heads dormitory, looking miserable, drenched from the rain, and terrified that he had lost his best friend, James had said nothing. He had simply walked over and pulled Sirius into a brotherly embrace. Their friendship had come out unscathed, and James had shown no hint of surprise at finding out Sirius had been framed.

Peter, however, was a different story. Truth be told, even Lily could see Peter committing an act of such betrayal, succumbing to following the big bad bully in town, and she had a hard time meeting his eye for months following the book. Sirius and Peter's relationships had never recovered, with Peter in a permanent state of feeling guilty, and Sirius constantly thinking about that level of betrayal.

Reading through books four to seven had been awkward with Peter around, given he had never redeemed himself throughout the series, and though Lily had sobbed when Sirius died, she had felt no remorse when Peter had, not the least because it had come down to him or Harry. James had been acting normal towards Peter, but had confided in Lily that he had his guard up around the boy now, unable to forget about what could have happened in the future.

Remus, on the other hand, was in a similar position to Lily; they were both rational enough to understand that it was stupid to hold a grudge for something that had not yet occurred, and the two of them spent most of their time and energy ensuring a heated argument, or worse, duel, did not break out between Sirius and Peter.

"Lily you can't just expect me to forget about it," Sirius growled, "Did you not _read_ -"

"Enough," Lily hissed, stopping Sirius before his voice could get too loud. Her eyes were so narrowed and angry that Sirius wouldn't have been surprised if they shot jinxes at him, "You _will_ behave like a grown up, and you have no choice, because I have _had it_ trying to make sure you don't kill Peter," she said, and Sirius quirked a brow at her, his eyes shining with irritation.

"I didn't ask you to-"

"And I never ask you to forgive him," she snapped, "But you're going to have to learn to be _civil_ to him, because this whole situation is fucked up enough without all of us having to be concerned over this grudge," she said, and Sirius glared at her.

"You're behaving like this is a bloody insignificant little thing, how can you not get it through your head that he _betrays_ us, Lily! If we hadn't found these books and gone down this path, you would die in a few years because of _him_ ," he said, eyes tearing slightly as Lily exhaled loudly, closing her eyes and looking towards the floor. He pulled his hand out of hers and placed both of them on her shoulders, shaking her slightly, as if trying to shake some sense into her, "How can you forgive the person who, if Dumbledore hadn't fucked with the future, would have been happy to hand you and my best mate, not to mention your fucking _child_ , to Lord fucking Voldemort?"

"You think I've forgiven him?" she choked out, raising her eyes, which were brighter than usual, to meet Sirius' suddenly shocked dark ones, "You're giving me far too much credit Sirius, I can't even look at him the same way, and probably never will, even if we somehow manage to survive this insane journey. Maybe in time, I'll be able to move past it, if we defeat Voldemort and I get to live long enough to meet my grandchildren, maybe then I'll be able to look at him without feeling that small twinge of betrayal or wariness, but it's going to take time," she said, and Sirius dropped his head, looking at the floor. She lifted her hands to his face and placed them on either cheek, lifting his head so he had no choice but to look at her, "these things take time Sirius, but that doesn't mean we can't try to move past it."

"You're contradicting yourself," Sirius grumbled, and Lily rolled her eyes, "Be civil Sirius, but I can't forgive him, move past it Sirius, but I won't until I have grandkids. Fucking hypocrite."

"Don't be such an arse," she said sternly, dropping her hands to smack him lightly on the chest, and Sirius grinned, "This is not an easy situation to reason through, thank you very much, and I thought I gave quite a rousing pep talk just now."

"Rousing pep talk you say?" he chuckled, "All right Evans, I'll humour you, I'll be _civil_ to that rat," he said, rolling his eyes and running one of his hands through his dark hair.

"Calling him 'that rat' is not behaving civilly," she said, moving back to lean against the wall beside Sirius.

"He's not fucking here."

"Will you watch your language please?" she whined, as a young woman covered her small childs ears, shooting an annoyed look over at the two of them, and Sirius winked down at her.

"You pick flower, civil behavior or potty mouth, you can only have one," he said, nodding towards the counter, where one of the waitresses was gesturing towards them, nodding towards four bags of food, "and if I'm not mistaken, you uttered a few profanities just now during your supposed rousing pep talk."

"Seems you only respond to your own language," she snorted, and Sirius laughed, picking up all four bags.

"Come on flower."

"I can carry two of those Sirius," she squeaked, attempting to pull a bag out of his hands.

"I was raised better than that, Evans," he said, winking, and Lily huffed at him, stopping in front of him and crossing her arms.

"Sirius, I am perfectly capable of carrying bags," she said, and Sirius rolled his eyes, well aware that she wouldn't budge unless he handed a bag over. He weighed the bags in his hands, before giving her the lightest two, "See, that wasn't so difficult was it?" she said, and Sirius rolled his eyes, shoving past her towards the doorway.

"You ruin everything Evans, I was raised to be a gentleman."

"Yes, well, your potty mouth suggests otherwise," she grumbled, and Sirius barked a laugh, holding the door open for her as they made their way back out into the rain, running across the street to where they could make a sheltered journey back to Sirius' flat.

* * *

"What do you think?" James asked Remus, looking around Sirius' guest bedroom that he had set up for himself and Lily.

"It looks like a room Prongs," Remus snorted from where he was lying across their bed, having been levitated from where he had peacefully fallen asleep in the living room, and unceremoniously thrown onto this bed by his arsehole of a mate. Peter was standing in the doorway, sniggering at Remus' irritation.

"But does it look good, you prick?" James asked, exasperated, picking up a pillow and whacking Remus in the face, causing the sandy haired boy to yelp and sit up, glaring at James through bloodshot eyes, his hair falling into his eyes.

"It looks like a fucking room Prongs, it's got a fucking bed, and a damn dresser, and a bleeding wardrobe for fucks sake, what else is she going to be expecting? An enchanted ceiling akin to the one from the Great Hall? A collage of memories coating the walls? A string quartet in the corner to play music while you shag? Fucking pixies flying around sprinkling glitter?"

By this point, Remus had exhausted himself and had flopped back onto the bed. James was regarding him amusedly, arms crossed as he bit his cheek to keep from laughing, as Peter cackled in the doorway, having sunk down onto the floor to clutch onto his stomach as Remus had gotten steadily more irritated.

"I think the pixies would be a nice touch," James said, and Remus groaned, grabbing the pillow and getting up, swinging hard at James, who ducked, grinning at Remus, "And the enchanted ceiling! _Inspired_ Moony, honestly, such brilliance I have never encountered before. And the _string_ _quartet_ -"

"Shut your trap, Prongs," Remus grumbled, unable to whack James with a final few swings, and settling on throwing the pillow at Peter, who now looked like he was about to piss himself of laughter. Peter, who didn't have reflexes as sharp as James', was hit in the face, causing James and Remus to laugh.

"Where are those two anyway?" James wandered, walking out of the room, stepping over Peter, to look out the living room window, through which the main street of Diagon Alley could clearly be seen. Across the street, James watched as Florean Fortescue closed his ice cream parlour for the day, waving at a few passerby. His mind flashed back to the cheerful memories reading the second book alongside large chocolate sundaes.

"I'm sure they'll be back soon," Peter said, walking into the room and sitting down on his single bed, his eyes tracking James as he began to pace.

"I'm sure we would have heard if they encountered Voldemort in the middle of Diagon Alley," Remus joked, and James shot him a hard look.

"Don't joke about things like that," James near snapped, and Remus rolled his eyes, pulling out his wand and shooting a stream of Aguamenti water at James, who froze as Peter burst out laughing, "What the bloody fuck do you think you're doing?" James spluttered, looking as if he couldn't decide if he should be angry or succumb to his laughter.

"You need to chill out Prongs, you take things too seriously," Remus snorted, "And you kept ducking the pillows, so I figure this was a reasonably retribution," he added, grinning slyly, and James growled at him.

"Well in that case-"

As James pounced at Remus, who was unprepared for this attack, and the two of them began to wrestle on the floor, Peter sniggered, pulling a chocolate bar out of his pocket to enjoy the show, snorting as Remus let out a high pitched squeal as James poked him in the side. Peter had never felt this intense guilt before, and found himself terrified of being around his friends all the time. He was scared they were going to abandon him. Scared Sirius was going to kill him. Above all else, however, he was scared that the him they had read about in the books could be inside him somewhere. Watching James and Remus wrestle, he couldn't imagine ever selling James and Lily out, putting their lives in danger, being responsible for ruining Sirius' life. He hated that he could see the wariness in all their eyes as they spoke to him, and the hesitance that his brothers would encounter before they confided in him, sometimes succumbing to that hesitance and choosing instead to look for each other. He had lain awake in bed the night after they had finished the Harry Potter books, thinking about the Peter Pettigrew Harry had known, and knew that wasn't who he wanted to be. He didn't want that to be how James' son perceived him. He didn't want this to be how his friends thought of him. He had vowed that night that he would do whatever it took to gain back their trust.

He'd do anything to have his friends back.

The door opened them, and Lily walked in, her eyes seeing James and Remus on the floor. She simply grinned, rolled her eyes, dropped the bags onto the small dining table Sirius had in front of the front doo, and walked into the kitchen to grab plates and cutlery. Sirius followed her in, stopping in front of his wrestling friends and letting out a bark of laughter, startling them into a stalemate.

"What the hell is going on here?" Sirius laughed, placing the bags down next to Lily's and crossing his arms. As Lily walked back out of the kitchen, James jumped to his feet, walking over to take the plates out of her hands, ignoring her exasperated 'I-can-do-it-James' look he had become so accustomed to.

"Why are you all wet?" Lily giggled, reaching up to push James' hair back, grinning up at him adoringly.

"Moony shot Aguamenti at me," he pouted, and Lily shot Remus a faux annoyed look, causing him to snort, allowing Sirius to pull him to his feet.

"Did he deserve it?" she asked, and James gasped, slapping Lily's hand away from where it was now resting on his shoulder, as his friends snickered.

"Whose side are you on?" James demanded, and Lily shrugged.

"The wining side," she said, and James pulled a face at her stupid beautiful lovely infuriating one.

"He hit me with a pillow," Remus said, and Lily snorted.

"That hardly condones you shooting him with water," she said, reaching out to rub James on the shoulder.

"Yeah Moony," he preened, sneering at Remus, who flipped him off.

"He was asking annoying questions!"

"He was being rude!"

"I don't have the time or energy to mother you lot," Lily said, ignoring both of them and handing a grinning Sirius a bag to unpack.

"Must get confusing, mothering your boyfriend," Sirius said, and Lily shot him a disgusted look as James snorted, moving to help unload the bags.

"This looks great," Remus said happily, leaning over to grab a plate and starting to serve himself a generous helping of rice.

"It does," Lily nodded, pulling some Chicken Tikka Masala towards her, and grabbing one of the naan breads from a greasy looking brown paper bag. She daintily began dipping it in the curry, and James snorted.

"That's not how you're supposed to eat it," he said, and Lily rolled her eyes

"Because you're so cultured"

"I'll have you know-"

"This is going to be a long journey," Remus laughed, moving towards Sirius, away from where James and Lily had stopped serving food and bickering, large grins on both their faces, obviously enjoying themselves.

"It's nice to know they'll never stop bickering," Sirius agreed, grinning as Lily gasped and smeared some of the curry on James' face, causing him to freeze and shoot her an astonished look, before he got a mischievous glint in his eye and pulled her close to him and holding her within his iron grasp, ignoring her little shrieks of laughter as he rubbed his cheek against her face. Sirius turned to glance at Peter, who was still sitting on his bed, watching James and Lily with a slight smile on his face. He turned to look back at Lily, who, sensing his gaze, turned to him and quirked a brow. Sirius sighed, cursing stupid redheads who probably had a point, and his own damn pride and dignity and the fact that he was angry about something that happened years in the future and maybe he should try and be civil, before reaching out to grab a second plate, "Wormtail, come get some food."

Lily grinned, but had the decency to look down at the floor so nobody but Sirius would know it was there. Remus raised his brows, looking up, alarmed, at James, who looked stunned, but was attempting to look nonchalant by serving himself some rice, his eyes flickering nervously between Sirius and Peter. Peter looked more shocked than anyone else, but slowly pushed himself off the bed, walking over to grab the plate from Sirius.

"Thanks," Peter said quietly, nervously glancing at Sirius. Sirius nodded curtly, but didn't say anything more. Peter smiled slightly to himself, looking down at the floor as Lily took it upon herself to break the silence by asking James just exactly what the proper way to eat her food was. Perhaps things would be okay eventually.

* * *

 **I was going to continue this chapter with a little more plot, but I thought this was a good place to end it for now. I thought it was necessary to really establish where their friendships and relationships were at this point.**

 **Next chapter, we start hunting!**

 **Review please!**

 **t.t**


	3. Eros

**A/N: just a quick one- I know I had named James' parents 'Daniel' and 'Emily' in TMATSS, but since their actual names are Fleamont and Euphemia I'm going to use those instead!**

* * *

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the character && I am not JK Rowling.**

* * *

"Maybe we should write to him?"

"He probably has better things to do"

"What could be more important than this?"

Lily woke up with a start at the sound of a loud groan, eyes snapping open to find herself in an unfamiliar room. She was staring at a cream wall, and could feel a warm arm wrapped around her middle, small puffs of hot breath warming up the back of her neck. She stretched her arms in front of her, back arching slightly, which in turn caused the man wrapped around her to groan again, this time quietly, tightening his hold on her waist as he buried his face deeper into her hair.

"Don't make us wake up," James groaned, his voice muffled into the back of her neck, and Lily let out a quiet giggle, bringing her arm up to rest it on top of James', intertwining her fingers with his.

"Make your friends shut up then," she whispered back, her voice croaky from sleep, and James groaned again, bending his leg and curving it around her hip, causing her to giggle uncontrollably as he reminded her of a koala clinging onto a parent.

"Those gits," he grumbled, their annoying arguing voices finally making their way into his lovely bubble of peaceful sleep, "I'll kill them."

"That would involve you getting up," she retorted, attempting to twist around the face him. Realizing her intent, he removed his leg from around her and twisted her in his arms, not even opening his eyes, burying his face into her neck.

"Can we stay here a little longer?" he breathed, causing her neck to erupt in goosebumps, a fact he was not blind to, as Lily felt his lips turn up into a grin, "I promise you'll have fun."

"Shut up," she said, and James chuckled again, pressing his lips to her throat briefly, before letting out a deep breath, wrapping her more snuggly into his arms, "It sounds like they're arguing, should we go-"

"They're not our children love, we don't have to go referee their quarrels," James said, placing feather light kisses on her skin, moving up her throat towards her ear. Lily's eyes fluttered, a soft moan escaping her as James continued his ministrations; moving up towards her ear, then back down to the dip in her throat, then back up again. His hands loosened slightly and started to wander underneath his Quidditch jersey, which she had taken to wearing as an indecently short nightie.

"If you keep doing that we're never going to get out of bed," she whispered, her hands tightening on his large shoulders, contradicting her words entirely, and James nipped at her neck, rolling them so that he was on top of her.

"That's the plan," he mumbled against her mouth, guiding her legs so they were wrapped around his hips, and gently grinding into her, causing her to moan once more.

"James, we really shouldn't-" Lily gasped then, as James' hand did something glorious on her breast, and he took the chance to deepen the kiss.

"Shut up and shag me Evans," he mumbled, and Lily giggled, wrapping her arms around his neck to keep his mouth securely against hers, thinking she'd quite like him to get his way, maybe even more than once.

* * *

"Guess who forgot a silencing charm," Remus grumbled, as the couples activities sounded loud and clear in the small living room, erasing any doubt as to whether they were awake, and what they were doing, " _Again._ "

"We really need to have a talk with Prongs about this," Sirius sniggered, raising his own wand and casting a silencing charm. Peter, still asleep, merely twitched at the difference in noise level, rolling over and continuing to snore.

"Back to the point though Padfoot, maybe we should write to Dumbledore," Remus grumbled, hopping up onto the kitchen counter as Sirius bustled around making himself some coffee the muggle way. He had started doing this at first to annoy his parents, but now found it never tasted right when done with magic.

"Like I said, Moony, he might be too busy to respond, and if so we need to plan around it, and we can't just go knocking on every orphanage in London," he replied wearily, switching the kettle on and glaring at it, as if the intensity of his craving would cause the water to boil faster.

"Well why not?" Remus hopped off the counter and fetched mugs for them both as the kettle continued to boil, Sirius reaching up to grab the coffee powder he had in one of the cupboards, "it's not like we've much else to do."

"Speak for yourself," Sirius snorted, "I've got Auror training at the end of September, and I'd like to be done with this shit by then."

"Yes, thank you for reminding me," Remus bit, his face darkening as he slammed the mugs in front of Sirius, who immediately adopted a guilty expression.

"Fuck, Moony, I'm sorry," Sirius said, closing his eyes and covering his face with his hands, "I didn't mean-"

"I'm well aware of what you meant Sirius," Remus, though clearly annoyed, sighed, as he knew his frustration was misdirected onto Sirius. It wasn't Sirius' fault he was a werewolf. It wasn't Sirius' fault nobody would employ him because of his lycanthropy. It wasn't Sirius' fault Remus was probably going to have to find work in the muggle world, "You know, sometimes I sympathise with Greyback's cause," Remus said quietly, and Sirius froze, watching as his best mate opened the fridge and pulled out a carton of milk, chucking at Sirius, who somehow managed to catch it through his shock.

"You what?"

"You know," Remus suddenly sounded very agitated, running his hands quickly through his sandy hair, his eyes darting wildly around as if trying to find justification for what he'd just said. That he sympathized with one of Voldemorts' biggest supporters, someone who had turned _him_ into a werewolf, "For a better life for, you know, people like me," he said, clearing his throat, and Sirius relaxed, his face falling as he looked at his friend with concern.

"I know mate," Sirius said, clapping Remus on the shoulder. There was a sound of a door opening, and Remus snorted as James walked into the kitchen, his sock clad feet thumping on the floor as he ruffled his hair, dressed only in a t-shirt and boxers.

"Clothes much?" Remus grumbled, quirking a brow, and James grinned at him, ruffling his hair as he snatched Sirius' mug of coffee out of the boy's hand, causing him to yelp.

"That's mine, dickhead," Sirius grumbled, slapping James across the head, attempting to snatch the mug back, but James held it out of his reach, taking a large gulp.

"It tastes mighty fine Padfoot, surely you're some sort of coffee whiz," James said, grinning at Sirius, who shot him a nasty look.

"James, stop being a prat," Lily said exasperatedly, walking into the kitchen, fully dressed in dark muggle jeans and a cream cardigan. She grabbed the mug out of James' hand and handed it back to Sirius, who grinned widely at her.

"Good morning, light of my life," Sirius said, and Lily rolled her eyes, handing Remus the second mug of already made coffee ("What about _me_ Lily?" James whined).

"Where do you keep your mugs, Sirius?" she asked, looking around, and Sirius reached over her head, opening a cupboard. She smiled her thanks, before refilling the kettle.

"You could help her, you know," Remus said, whacking a still pouting James, who rolled his eyes.

"I've tried, but apparently I'm crap at making coffee," he said, and Remus quirked a brow at Lily, who giggled, nodding.

"He really is, he accidently broke a mug, burnt himself with the kettle, and put a good four spoons of powder in when he was staying at my parents' for that week over Easter," she said, and Sirius snorted as James flushed slightly.

"How the fuck was I supposed to know how many spoons to bloody put in?" he squawked, turning to Remus, who rolled his eyes, ruffling his friends' hair again with a slight grin on his face.

"Spoilt," Sirius scoffed, shaking his head with mock disappointment.

"Bastard," James sneered back, and Sirius grinned.

"Potter, your levels of profanity are far too high for the morning," Lily scolded, and James smirked at her, a naughty twinkle in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, were you listening to yourself twenty minutes ago?"

" _James_!" Lily squeaked, flushing an interesting shade of maroon, and Sirius snorted, leaning over to hand her the coffee powder, as she was too flustered at the moment to see it. Remus smirked, allowing James, who was looking incredibly pleased with himself, to high-five him.

"Don't be embarrassed flower, we could all hear," Sirius said, and Lily flushed even deeper, throwing an annoyed look at James, who rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Sorry, I forgot," James said, and Lily huffed, stirring her coffee rather violently in her embarrassment as Remus sniggered.

"Sirius cast a silencing charm, I promise," Remus said, and Lily threw Sirius a grateful smile, earning a chuckle and a hair ruffle in return, "Besides, it's not as if we wouldn't have known otherwise, given the state of you," he added, and Lily shrieked, turning around the glare at Remus.

"I look perfectly orderly!" she protested, looking down at her outfit. She wasn't wrong, there wasn't' a hair out of place, but these boys were Marauders, and were much more observant than she gave them credit for.

"It's all in the detail Evans," Sirius snickered, as Lily looked down at her outfit and checked her reflection in a knife, causing James to snort in amusement, "Many a bet have been dependent on whether you two were shagging or not and we've gotten quite perceptive, you know. It's noticeable, for example, in the red of your cheeks and the slight swollenness of your lips."

"You pay far too much attention to my girlfriend mate," James snorted, as Lily opened and closed her mouth like a goldfish, looking adorably confused and speechless.

"And I'm not sure the flush red of my cheeks can be used as evidentiary support anyway," Lily huffed, and Sirius and Remus smirked, "I'm always bloody blushing."

"Bloody blushing," James snickered, and Lily shook her head in amusement, handing him a cup of coffee, "Thank you sweetheart," James said, leaning down to kiss her quickly.

"Go get dressed," Lily said gently, and James grinned down at her.

"Why? Is my state of undress distracting you?"

"If I say yes, will you go get dressed?" Lily asked, traces of humour in her otherwise exasperated tone, and James nodded vigorously, the other two boys snorting in amusement, "I'm so very distracted, I may jump you now, please go put some clothes on so I may keep my hormones at bay," Lily deadpanned, and James saluted, winking at the snickering Sirius, and pivoting out of the room to go put some clothes on.

"You've really got your hands full with that one," Remus said, nodding towards where James had been standing, and Lily grinned, clearly not bothered by the amount of effort Remus was suggesting went into putting up with James. No matter how many times it happened, she couldn't get enough of bickering with him. It was the highlight of almost all her days.

"So what were you two bickering about?" Lily asked, hopping onto the counter beside Remus, who grinned and threw his arm around her as Sirius leaned against the counter opposite them.

"You could hear us amidst your morning activities?" Sirius asked innocently, and Lily rolled her eyes, her cheeks flushing but otherwise ignoring the wolfish grin he was sending her way.

"It's okay Lily, everyone needs some daily exercise," Remus said, and Lily let out a good-natured laugh.

"What can I say? A girl's got to keep in shape somehow," she said, and Sirius and Remus laughed. There was a grunt and they all turned to see Peter _finally_ waking up, their mingled laughter having been too much for him. He sat up, stretched, before looking around, and after spotting his friends in the kitchen dragged his feet towards them, yawning as he went, pushing his hair out of his face.

"Morning," he mumbled, leaning against the wall, nearly falling asleep, and Sirius snorted, shaking his head, obviously trying very hard to fight his amusement. Lily rolled her eyes at his stubbornness. It seemed Sirius had actually taken her little rousing pep talk to heart, and had been significantly more civil towards Peter the previous night. Although he hadn't spoken directly to the boy other than the first time, the amount of dark looks and irritable noises had reduced significantly, and he had even succumbed to reluctant chuckles a handful of times as a result of something Peter had said.

"I'm surprised Lily's morning exercise didn't wake you up," Remus said, and Lily shoved him as Sirius sniggered again, and Peter opened his eyes, looking between them questioningly.

"Lily's morning exercise?"

"Do you lot have nothing better to talk about?" James laughed, walking back into the kitchen, now dressed in denim muggle shorts and a collared, short sleeved, maroon button down, "Morning," he said to Peter, who smiled back at him, "Get your nose out of my sex life," he shoved Sirius in the face, earning a snort in return.

"Trust me, my nose was nowhere near-"

"Yes that's enough out of you," Lily laughed, turning redder by the moment, ignoring James who was obviously taking great joy in her discomfort, "And you still haven't answered my question. What were you two bickering about?" she repeated and James turned a questioning glance to Remus, who sighed.

"It's about that orphanage," he said, releasing Lily to play with the rim of his mug, "I was saying we should write to Dumbledore and ask him where it was."

"To which I replied saying Dumbledore was too busy, and if he didn't reply for ages anyway we're going to need to figure it out for ourselves somehow anyway so might as well start there," Sirius said, and Peter frowned.

"But didn't you ask Dumbledore at graduation, Lily?" he said, and the three other boys jerked their heads to Lily, who flushed.

"You did?" James asked, a little miffed that she hadn't at least told him.

"I did ask, I'm so sorry, it completely slipped my mind amidst all the leaving Hogwarts drama," she said, "he told me it was called Wool's Orphanage, and all he said was it was in London," she finished, shaking her head, "he got dragged away by that stupid _arse_ Caradoc Dearborn to meet his parents or some rubbish, so I couldn't ask him for more details," she said, and the boys laughed.

"Well the name is better than nothing I suppose," James nodded, "we can ask around."

"We'll look like prats asking around about some orphanage that Voldemort went to," Sirius said, and Lily rolled her eyes.

"Not if we ask muggles, they won't have a bloody clue nor a care _why_ we were asking, they'd just let us know where it was," she said, and Sirius sighed.

"Wormtail how did you know Lily had spoken to Dumbledore?" Remus asked, and Peter shrugged.

"I bumped into her right after she had," he said, and James nodded, obviously relieved she hadn't simply chosen not to tell him. Sirius, guessing what was running through his best mates mind, rolled his eyes and elbowed him.

"Then why didn't _you_ remember?" Sirius asked, and Peter shrugged.

"Didn't realize you lot were bickering about it," he said, and Lily shot Sirius, who looked like he was going to argue, a warning look, causing him to deflate slightly and sip his coffee.

"What's so wrong with Dearborn, by the way, Lily?" Remus asked, and Lily shot him an exasperated look as he gave her a knowing smile. She knew that he knew, because she had confided it in him back in their fifth year, while they had been rounding as Prefects.

"Nothing _Remus_ ," she said nastily, and James quirked a brow, catching on to her tone.

"What happened?" he asked, and Lily sighed as Remus sniggered, her hand shooting out to smack the boy in the arm.

"There may have been an incident of a sexual nature," Remus said, and Lily huffed, her red face rising from her hands to glare at the annoyingly smug werewolf.

"When you say it like that you make it sound like more than it was," she said, and both James and Sirius smirked at her agitation, "he may have snog attacked me in a corridor in fifth year," she said, and Remus grinned as Sirius and Peter howled with laughter. James just looked amused.

"Snog attacked?" he asked, and Lily huffed, blowing a loose strand of hair out of her face.

" _Yes_! I was walking down the Charms corridor, minding my own business-"

"Probably fantasizing about bubble head charms," Sirius said under his breath, and Lily shot him a quick glare as Remus snickered. James continued to regard her with an extremely amused air.

"-and out of nowhere he _materializes_ -"

"Materializes?" James laughed, "Merlin, this is quite a tale."

"-and he literally just pushed me up against the wall and snogged me," she finished, and James grinned, reaching forward to rub her knee comfortingly.

"You seem very torn up about this Lil," he said, putting on his best therapist voice, and Lily rolled her eyes, slapping his hand away from her knee as the other three laughed.

"She got him back, though," Remus said, grinning widely at the annoyed redhead, "kneed him right where it hurts and ran off," he said, and Lily huffed.

"Well what else was I supposed to do?" she asked, and James grinned, leaning forward to kiss her chastely.

"I'm proud of you, I'd have expected no less," he said, and Lily let out a reluctant smile, shaking her head as the boy continued to grin at her.

"Back to the matter at hand," Peter said after a few moments, his eyes betraying his amusement, "What's our plan with the orphanage then?"

"Well, I was thinking," Lily started, and James snorted.

"Nothing new there."

"They're not going to just give away that kind of information, are they?" she asked, ignoring James completely and turning to Sirius, who smirked as James giggled to himself.

"It's not exactly extremely private is it?" he asked, "We're just asking where they holiday with the children," he said, and Lily sighed.

"Yes but it's a rather odd question for a stranger to be asking, don't you think?" she asked, and Remus nodded soberly.

"Lily's right, they're probably going to ask a lot of questions."

"By the looks of that Mrs. Cole from Dumbledore's memory, we might be facing quite a tough woman," Lily finished, and Peter shrugged.

"If we can take on McGonagall we can certainly take on Mrs. Cole," he said, and James snorted, lips quirking up at the sides.

"There is some truth in that," he said, and Peter smiled slightly, looking at the floor again, "We'll figure it out, one of us can be pretending to be a concerned adoptive parent."

"Yes but surely they have record of their adoptions," Lily said, and Sirius smirked.

"What they aren't factoring in is that we are _wizards_ with an _invisibility cloak_ ," he said, and Lily sighed.

"Yes, I haven't forgotten about those two details, but at the same time Sirius, we have to be let in and directed to the office, and we'll need to know where the confidential information is, and to be honest, I think it's far more likely that we'll get that destination from whoever works there instead of from sifting through files," she said all of this rather quickly, and James grinned, knowing this was how she thought, blurting out everything that came into her head as if clearing it out would allow her head to fill with new thoughts faster, "And to be frank, sifting through files could take _ages_ , and Merlin knows how long we can get away with being inside the building."

"All valid points Lily, but you're not factoring in that it's a _muggle_ building," he said, shaking his head, "Alohamora's and confundus charms will be our best friends."

"Someone will still have to keep the person in charge distracted while the others sift through files," she said weakly, and James grinned at her.

"I have an idea."

* * *

"I feel like an idiot," Sirius said, after he and James turned away from the seventh successive muggle who was unaware of where the orphanage was located. Lily, Remus and Peter were back at the flat, putting together whatever materials they thought necessary for the trip to the orphanage, "London is fucking huge, how are random muggles on the street supposed to know where _one_ orphanage is?"

"Cheer up mate," James chuckled, throwing his arm around Sirius' shoulders, "We clearly won the draw, we get to go wandering around muggle London while the others remain holed up in your flat," he said, and Sirius rolled his eyes, shoving James off him.

"Yes but we're making no progress here," Sirius said, ignoring a group of tittering muggle girls who seemed to be eying the two of them from where they were sitting on the Eros statue in Piccadilly Circus, "Perhaps we should apparate somewhere more remote? Surely the orphanage wouldn't be in the bloody heart of London."

"Who knows," James said, ruffling his hair, "Maybe they wanted to take the children on fun trips around London."

"If that was the case I doubt they'd go holiday at that remote beach," Sirius said, and James shrugged once more.

"Who knows, a countryside vacation sounds much more appealing than wandering around the city you live in."

"Be that as it may," Sirius grumbled, looking around for any clue as to what they should do next, "that bloody book didn't give many details about either the orphanage's or the cave's locations. How bloody helpful."

"At least we have the name," James said, clapping Sirius on the shoulder as they began to slowly walk away from the statue and up the street, "Come on mate, I'm sure we can-"

James stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes staring forwards at a small sign above a wooden door.

"That's it," he said excitedly, tugging at a bewildered Sirius, "I learned about these in Muggle Studies, they're these little stores that have information on interesting things visiting muggles can do," he said, and Sirius quirked a brow.

"You think they're going to know the location of an orphanage?" he asked, and James shrugged.

"Worth a chance, don't you think?"

Sirius had no response, so James tugged him forwards into the small muggle store, where an attractive young woman worked, "Hello miss," James said, putting on a thick welsh accent. Sirius only just managed to keep a straight face, unable to understand why on earth James had chosen to do so, "We're in a bit of a pickle love, see my sister works at this orphanage, and my brother and I were on our way to pay her a bit of a visit, but we're completely lost, absolutely buggered, no idea where we're going," he finished, and the girl smiled kindly at him, eyes flickering between him and Sirius.

"We'd really appreciate your help," Sirius added, mimicking the think accent, and throwing a wink at her for added effect. The girl somehow seemed convinced by Sirius' input, and pulled out a map, smiling up at James.

"Where is this orphanage located?" she asked, and James sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.

"See love, that's the issue. Our sister, see she's not the very brightest," he continued, and Sirius rolled his eyes, hoping the muggle woman would take it as an agreement that their fictitious sister was absolutely bonkers, rather than him thinking James was bonkers, "Only gave us the bleeding name, no address, nothing actually informative," he said, and the girl frowned slightly.

"It's called Wool's Orphanage," Sirius added, sidling over to where James stood, one hand on the counter and the other in his hair, and resting his elbows on the counter, leaning towards the girl, who seemed to blink very rapidly after looking into Sirius' eyes, "Any way you could help us out?"

"I'll, er, I'll have a look in the back and see if we have any orphanage records," she said, managing to maintain her professionalism as she sauntered through a door behind the counter.

"What the fuck?" Sirius asked, turning to James, who grinned at him, "Why the accent and the ridiculous story?"

"We've got to cover our tracks mate," James said, not dropping his ridiculous accent, "You should probably keep the accent, wouldn't be very helpful if she overheard," he added, and Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Cover our tracks," he grumbled, resuming the ridiculous accent at James' request, "Nobody's tracking us."

"Yet," James shrugged, and Sirius frowned at him.

"You seriously think we're going to be tracked?"

"Well who knows mate, there's no saying someone won't figure out what we're up to," he shrugged, and Sirius grumbled, pushing his dark locks out of his face, managing to maintain an air of elegance and grace as he did so, whereas James mussing his hair continued to look endearingly awkward.

"In the books we found out he couldn't feel them being destroyed," Sirius said, and James sighed, "And I doubt anyone's going to guess that we found magical books about the future and are attempting to mess with time and alter our destinies."

"While I'm sure they won't figure it out to that extent," James snorted, and Sirius smirked, "Considering it's absolutely mental and if you told me about it before it happened I would have never believed you, probably admitted you to St. Mungo's to be honest," James continued, and Sirius let out a bark of laughter.

"There's no saying someone won't figure it out," Sirius finished, nodding his head, "No, you're definitely right Prongs, I just hate this fucking accent," he said, and James laughed. Just then the muggle girl came back out, smiling apologetically, holding a small scrap of paper in her left hand, and Sirius managed to hold in an irritable groan.

"I'm so very sorry, we have no records of orphanages, however you could visit an adoption agency and ask them?" she suggested, and Sirius' head perked up.

"Any chance we can get an address on one of those, love?" he asked, and the girl nodded, smiling as she handed the paper over to James, who unfolded it and read the address.

"I already called, they're open until five."

* * *

"Does this make me look middle aged?" Lily asked, transfiguring her appearance in a mirror she had placed atop the small dining table. Remus and Peter lying on their single beds behind her, Remus reading, naturally, and Peter writing a ridiculously long letter to his mother.

"That's a ridiculous question," Remus sniggered, and Lily shot him an annoyed look over her shoulder.

"You're being incredibly unhelpful."

"Thanks," Remus said, taking a large bite of a chocolate bar he had found in Sirius' kitchen.

"They've been gone a good four hours now," Lily said, getting worried as she looked out the window, as if they'd be hovering out there, "Do you think something could have happened?"

"Don't be paranoid Lily," Peter said, rolling up the scroll and putting his ink and quill back inside his trunk, which was lying beside his bed, "Do you think Prongs will be annoyed if I borrow his owl?"

"McGonagowl is still with James' dad," Lily said, still chuckling at the ridiculous name James had kept for the owl she had bought him for his birthday a few months ago. McGonagall had almost turned purple when James had addressed it as such during one of their Head meetings.

"I vehemently refuse to address it as such," Remus grumbled, and Lily grinned at him as Peter snickered, "that poor owl."

"I'm not sure owls understand or really care about the names they're given," Lily mused, turning back to the mirror to further analyse her appearance. She looked the same, but simply because she could see herself through the alterations she had made; adding a few wrinkles under her eyes, crows feet on either side, and laugh lines to make her seem more cheerful than dead. She pointed her wand at her breasts, deciding making them larger would make her look older. Unfortunately, as she was enlarging the second one, the front door opened and James and Sirius walked in, their eyes immediately flying to what she was doing. Sirius guffawed loudly, causing Remus to jump, dropping the chocolate onto his lap, and Peter, who had managed to doze off, to jerk awake and look towards them. James simply looked stunned.

"What are you doing?" Sirius sniggered, and Lily flushed dark red, looking anywhere but her boyfriend, who was ogling her newly filled out chest.

"I'm trying to make myself look more middle aged," Lily huffed, crossing her arms, finding the task was slightly more difficult with her new enhancements. James seemed to notice this minute struggle, and finally looked up to meet Lily's eyes, smirking slightly at her embarrassment.

"You certainly look older," James said, "and come to think of it, when I think of middle aged women they usually do have pretty large breasts," he said, frowning as he undoubtedly tried to think of a middle aged woman without larger breasts, and Lily beamed at him.

" _Thank_ you James," she said, shooting Remus a dirty look, earning a snort in return, "At least one of you buffoons is helpful."

"How often do you think about middle aged women's breasts?" Sirius asked, scandalized, and James rolled his eyes.

"He's clearly the authority on what you look like, Lily, you look the bloody same to me," Remus grumbled, and Lily shrieked indignantly, turning around so violently her red hair swung, landing on her left shoulder as she glared at Remus.

"I have _wrinkles_ Remus!" she near shrieked, pointing at her face, and Remus finally looked up from his book, before smirking slightly.

"Your torso certainly doesn't look the same," he said, and Lily flushed darkly, turning to shield her body, throwing her arms around her recently acquired cleavage. James laughed, walking over to pull her into a one-armed hug, so her front was against his side.

"Can we all stop focusing on Lily's chest, and focus instead on the orphanage?" James suggested, and Lily's eyes widened comically.

"Oh Merlin! I can't believe I haven't already asked! How did it go? Did you find out where it is? Was there any trouble?"

"The only trouble was attempting to keep a straight face while putting on a Welsh accent," Sirius grumbled, throwing himself onto Remus' single bed, lying across the free part by Remus' feet.

"Are we supposed to understand what that means?" Peter asked Remus, who snorted.

"Ask Prongs," Sirius spat, and the other three predictably turned to face James, who smirked.

"What? Coming up with an elaborate backstory and disguising our true identity's was clearly an intelligent move!"

"Of course it was, you need to cover your tracks," Lily said, and Sirius shot her an astonished look as James beamed down at her.

"That's what I said!" he said excitedly, and Lily grinned up at him as Sirius scoffed, crossing his arms.

" _You_ put on a fake Welsh accent for four hours Evans, I dare you," he said, and Lily giggled.

"I'd much prefer to listen to yours," she said, grinning back at Sirius, who handsomely pouted up at the ceiling as Lily wrapped her arms around James' torso.

" _Anyway_ ," Remus said, exasperated that they had once again managed to steer off topic, "Ridiculous welsh accents aside, did you manage to find out where it is?"

"Naturally," James shrugged, pulling a piece of muggle lined-paper out of his pocket and handing it to Remus, who unfolded it and read the address, along with details on who to contact if interested in adoption.

"Something you want to tell us Prongs?" Remus asked, and James snorted as Lily quirked an eyebrow.

"We'll need to be pretending to adopt if we want to get in there and avoid suspicion," he said, and Lily frowned.

"I thought the initial plan would have worked," she said, "people are terrified of being shut down, they'd have done anything to please me if I was pretending to be some sort of child care inspector."

"Don't worry Lil, you can still use your middle aged woman disguise," James said, and Sirius sniggered.

"This really is no time to be thinking about the bedroom, Prongs."

"I _wasn't_ ," James squeaked, his voice jumping up several notches as his gaze shifted down, once more, to Lily's newly enhanced chest. Lily snorted, pushing at his chin so he was instead looking into her stern, but amused, eyes. James winked, "I _meant_ that it'll look far less suspicious if a middle aged couple walk in looking to adopt, as opposed to a couple of eighteen year olds," he said, and Sirius smirked.

"Brilliant save, mate," he said, and James shot him a glare as Lily giggled, and Remus snorted, breaking off another piece of chocolate. Peter seemed to be doing his level best to avoid making eye contact with Lily's torso.

"I think it sounds like a good idea," Lily cut in before James could say something stupid to Sirius, which would inevitably result in a ridiculous wrestling match, or fisticuffs being declared or, worse still, a duel.

"Who should be Lily's husband?" Peter piped up, and Remus sniggered, Sirius cracking a small reluctant smile, as James shot Peter an annoyed look.

" _I'll_ do it, of course," he said, and Lily laughed.

"Surely it makes more sense if I go in by myself," she said, and James quirked a brow at her, "Many single women decide to adopt," she shrugged, Remus nodded thoughtfully.

"She's got a valid point there, Prongs," he said, "That'll leave four of us to search through their files and paperwork, and we'll undoubtedly be faster if there are more of us."

"Exactly," Lily said, and Sirius snorted.

"Maybe we should get you practicing your Welsh accent then."

* * *

"I still think that was unnecessary," James said, and Lily rolled her eyes, throwing a tomato at him. Naturally he managed to catch it before it hit him in the face, shooting her a cheeky grin as he put it down on the chopping board.

"Will you stop discussing my breasts please?" Lily laughed, the breasts in question now back to their usual size, as James shot her another pouty face as he chopped the tomato at an excruciatingly slow page, "Making them bigger just wasn't worth all the drama," she added, and James pouted again.

"This is the stupidest conversation we have ever had," James said after a few moments, and Lily burst out laughing as he grinned at her.

"And that's really saying something," Lily giggled, "Especially after that one last week-"

"About the bubbles!" James laughed, nodding his head as he continued to chop the onion.

"I still think you're wrong, by the way," Lily added, picking up a fork and swirling the spaghetti in the pot, "Bubbles definitely win over bath salts," she said, and James snorted.

"I don't know what you're talking about woman. Do bubbles give pleasant swirling sensations? No."

"They're not supposed to give you a pleasant swirling sensation!" Lily laughed, beating at James' arm as he nudged her hip with his, "They're supposed to dissolve properly in the water."

"That's no fun," James said, clicking his tongue, and Lily sighed exasperatedly, pushing him out of the way to take over onion chopping, given he'd only made four cuts so far, "Don't sigh at me, _as if_ bubbles are more fun than the swirling."

"Bubbles are fun! You can blow at them and cover your areas if someone happened to walk in. They're obviously the more practical option," she sniffed, and James rolled his eyes.

"Or you could lock the door, or do you enjoy the voyeuristic possibilities, Evans?" he asked, and Lily shot him a smarmy look.

"Don't get smart with me, James Potter," she said, and James shot her a cheeky grin, picking up her abandoned fork and prodding the pasta again.

"How are we supposed to know this is done?"

"Take a bite when you think it looks soft enough, and if it's fine then it's done," she said, and James prodded the pasta once more.

"Remind me again why we're doing this the muggle way," he asked, turning around and opening a small pack of mushrooms. The two of them had run down to buy food while the other three napped.

"You this is how food is made right? You just have a house elf at your place that does it," she said, and James shrugged, pecking her cheek as he looked in the drawers for another knife to start dicing the mushrooms.

"Yes but you realize chopping tomatoes and mushrooms and all the other things can be done by magic," he said, and Lily shrugged.

"By all means go ahead and do it, I just like doing it this way," she said, and James snorted, whipping out his wand and pointing it at the knife he'd laid beside the mushrooms. It instantly started dicing them perfectly, allowing him the freedom to hop onto the counter where Lily was working, right beside her chopping board, and watch the look of concentration on her face.

"Seems to really be stressing you out," he retorted, and Lily shot him a sarcastic look as he grinned down at her, "Oh don't be like that Lil-bit, who am I supposed to talk to if you're being so quiet?"

"Wake one of your friends," she chuckled, turning around to grab another tomato, and James snorted.

"I'd rather live, thanks."

"Pity," she said, grinning up at him, and he laughed.

"You say that like you wouldn't be miserable for the rest of your life if I died," he sneered, and she grinned.

"I'm eighteen, James, I'd probably get over it, find someone better, you know?" she said, and James shoved at her as she giggled.

"I'll let you pretend that's true," he said, and she pushed herself onto her toes to press a kiss against his lips. His lips curved up into a smile and he weaved his hand into her hair, holding her to him so she couldn't escape.

"This doesn't look like cooking," an amused voice sounded from the doorway, just as James took it upon himself to deepen their kiss.

"Of course _you_ would walk in now," Lily grumbled, pulling away from James reluctantly, and bringing a hand up to pull his out of her hair, as he shot Sirius an amused look, "I swear you have a 'Lily and James are snogging' radar in your head," she snorted, and James laughed as Sirius smirked, sauntering over to Lily's other side as she resumed chopping tomatoes.

"You know you can do this all with magic right?" he said, and Lily huffed, walking to a cupboard away from the two to pull out another pot for the sauce, as James sniggered.

"Honestly you two might as well share a brain," she said, and the boys grinned at each other.

"Those two buffoons still asleep then?" James asked, as Sirius moved Lily's chopping board so he could hop up next to James.

"Moony's awake, he's digging through his trunk," Sirius replied, just as Remus walked into the kitchen, eyes falling on Lily who was still cutting tomatoes.

"You know you can chop those with magic," he said, and Lily shot him a dark look as James and Sirius howled with laughter.

"What were you digging in your trunk for?" Sirius asked, and Remus flushed slightly, causing the other three's interest to perk.

"I may have, er, borrowed a few books from the library," he said, and Lily gasped as James and Sirius' jaws dropped.

"You _stole_ from Hogwarts?" James squawked, as Sirius started to shake with laughter at Lily's astonishment and Remus' embarrassment.

"Not for personal gain! Just a few necessary things I thought it'd be handy to have around," Remus said, and Sirius smirked.

"Did you accio the horcrux books like Hermione did?" he asked, and Remus flushed.

"I certainly _tried_ but they weren't there."

"That's because I did it," James grinned, and both Remus and Sirius turned to him, stunned.

"Did you know about this?" Sirius asked, turning to Lily, who hummed and nodded, clearly much more interested in chopping tomatoes than the boys' thieving Hogwarts.

"Why aren't you rampant with disapproval?" Remus spluttered, walking over to hop up on the counter opposite James and Sirius so he could peer into the spaghetti pot.

"We need the information, we don't happen to have a sword of Gryffindor lying around, nor did we ever kill a basilisk, so we really do need to learn how to destroy them," she said, "I probably would have done it myself if he hadn't gotten there first," she shrugged, and James grinned, ruffling his hair proudly.

"I win," he shrugged, and Sirius snorted.

"So what books did you steal then Remus?" Lily asked, and he flushed.

"Well, I wasn't sure how dangerous this journey would be, and whether we'd need to know more advanced defensive or offensive magic, so I stole – _borrowed_ ," he corrected, as James and Sirius sniggered, "I _borrowed_ a few Defence Against the Dark Arts books from the library."

"Probably for the best," Lily sighed, pouring the ingredients needed to make the sauce into the new pot, and switching off the hob for the spaghetti, "Find anything useful in them?"

"I found this one shield that sort of covers your whole body, like armour, so would be shielded from all angles," Remus said, and James whistled.

"Sounds quite advanced, I haven't even heard of that," he said, and Sirius nodded, mimicking Lily's stunned expression.

"Does it work against all curses?" Lily asked, and Remus exhaled, brushing his hair out of his face.

"It depends on the strength of the wizard in question and how advanced their abilities are, but I don't think, even if Dumbledore used it, that it would work against any of the Unforgivables," he said, and Sirius grumbled.

"If I ever become a super famous genius Auror, I'm going to invent a spell that deflects those, mark my words," he said, and James snorted.

"Can you even deflect the _Avada_?" Lily asked, and Remus quirked a brow at her.

"What do you mean?"

"Like, would _Protego_ work?" she asked, and Sirius shrugged.

"No idea Lil-bit, I'll let you know if I ever find myself in that position," he winked, and Lily shook her head, clearly not amused by his morbid joke.

"Don't make jokes like that Sirius, we're living in wartime, Merlin forbid you're ever in such a position," she said, and Sirius beamed at her.

"Would you be upset if I died?" he asked, and James snorted.

"Given how much she cried when you died in those damn books I'm sure she would be," he grumbled, and Remus laughed as Lily flushed, and Sirius threw her a friendly grin.

"I don't think Prongs ever got over his jealousy on that one," he said, and James flipped him off as Lily and Sirius laughed. There was a yell from the other room, and the four of them near ran out, to see Peter cowering underneath his blankets, McGonagowl perched on what could only be his bum.

"What the fuck is it?" Peter squawked, tugging at his blanket. The owl simply continued to gaze down at him, before turning its' head around, clearly searching for James.

"I'm over here, you nut," James laughed, walking over to relieve the owl of the letter, as the other three cackled in the doorway at Peter's squeaks, "I swear you go out of your way to alarm people," he snorted, holding his arm out so McGonagowl could jump onto it, freeing Peter to sit up violently, looking around for his attacker. When his eyes landed on the owl, he huffed, an embarrassed red as Sirius' laughter became so extreme his legs gave out and he had to slide to the floor.

"What's your father said?" Lily giggled, as Remus ran into the kitchen to switch off the hob so the sauce didn't burn. James had frozen in his spot, his eyes scanning the letter, and Sirius, sensing his friends' distress jogged over, snatching the paper from his hands and scanning it quickly.

 _Come to St. Mungo's. There's been an attack._

* * *

"Dad!"

Lily watched with wide eyes as James sprinted to a crouched figure in the corridor. His silver hair was soaked in blood. Lily swayed slightly at the smell of blood in the air, and felt Sirius' arm wrap around her shoulders, holding her tightly to him. She chanced a glance up at him, to see his face was white as a sheet, his jaw clenched tightly, his dark eyes focused on the crouched figure of Fleamont Potter, following a trickle of blood run down the side of his face as his head jerked, turning quickly at the sound of James' voice.

"What happened?" James demanded, falling to the floor beside his broken father. Fleamont's clothes were torn and bloody, and mud coated his hands and was smeared across his face. The left lens of his round glasses, so like James', was shattered, cracks the shape of spider webs spreading from the middle of the lens to the frame, behind which bloodshot blue eyes finally found his son. Tear-stains ran down his face, creating clean paths of wrinkled skin down to his jaw, which was clenched and covered in day-old stubble.

"James," he croaked, throwing himself at his son, James' strong arms wrapping around his fragile father as Fleamont succumbed to sobs that wracked his whole body. Lily watched as James held onto his father, his eyes darting, bewildered, over Fleamont's bloody frame, searching for injuries, searching for anything that might give him a sign of what had happened, anything that would help him understand what was happening, "I was too late- too late. I didn't get t-t-to her on t-ti-time."

"Should we go?" Remus whispered to Lily, wrapping his right hand around her wrist, his hand shaking slightly as he squeezed Lily's forearm. Peter nodded quickly, blinking very quickly as Sirius dropped his head, lifting his free arm to cover his eyes, shaking with barely concealed sobs. Lily couldn't tear her eyes away from James, who was shaking his head very quickly, blinking very fast, his eyes flying around, as if searching for a way out of the situation. His eyes fell on Lily, and he held her gaze.

"I'm going to stay," she whispered, not breaking eye contact with James, whose eyes had now started to tear, the depth of his hurt calling out to her with those marvelous hazel eyes she was so in love with. Sirius released her shoulders to hold her hand, squeezing it slightly, and she knew he would be staying as well.

* * *

St. Mungo's was overflowing with the injured; wizards and muggles alike had been impacted in the biggest attacks yet. A large group of Death Eaters had struck at the heart of muggle London, killing nearly seventy muggles, and two Aurors. Half of the Auror force had been severely injured in fierce duels where many of them were outnumbered two to one.

The attacks occurred not half a mile away from where James and Sirius had spent most of the day. Buildings on either side of the busy street had been near destroyed, large chunks having fallen onto the streets from curses that had missed their targets. A few fleeing muggles had gotten caught by these chunks, crushed underneath them, retrieved by their muggle ambulances and pronounced dead at the scene.

"This isn't real, this isn't real, this isn't real," James muttered to himself, his head in his hands as he sat on the floor outside the ward his mother was in. His hands were wet from the tears that had been flowing from his hidden eyes, his glasses pushed on top of his head as he massaged his eyes with the balls of his hands, pushing hard enough to cause a mild ache and stars to erupt in his vision.

Fleamont Potter was sitting on a wooden chair, leaning against the wall of the ward, as if praying he would be able to hear what was happening inside, as if his mere presence would help Euphemia get better. His eyes were dark, staring at the opposite wall, unseeing. He was covered in rubble and blood, where he had been sent as additional support for the Aurors who had initially been called. He had found his wife, unconscious, and had pulled her off the ruined street and apparated her to St. Mungo's immediately.

Euphemia had been in there for three hours; four additional Healers had arrived, but the Potters had not yet been let in to see her. Having served in the Auror force for over forty years, she was one of the top Auror's the ministry had to offer, well into old age and still quick as a whip. For that reason, Voldemort's top Death Eaters had sought her out, and she had been dueling Bartholomew Lestrange, and Wallace Avery. From what the other Aurors had told them, she had managed to disarm Lestrange, and stupefy Avery, but Alfred Dolohov Senior had sent a non-verbal curse at her from behind. She had collapsed moments before the Death Eaters had simultaneously apparated as more Auror's, including Fleamont, had arrived. She had been brought to St. Mungo's no less than three hours ago, and the Healers had been busy with her ever since.

The corridors bustled with the sounds of distressed patients, but James sat unflinchingly on the marble floors. His bum was numb, and his legs had fallen asleep hours ago, but he felt no need to move. Nothing hurt as much as the idea of never seeing his mother again, of watching his father deteriorating before his eyes. James looked up, his eyes falling on his father, who showed no sign of recognizing that James had finally shifted slightly. His eyes fell instead on Sirius, who had been on one of the waiting area sofas ever since Remus and Peter had left, after a passing Healer had told them there was simply not enough room for visitors who did not necessarily need to be there.

Lily returned to the room, levitating four cups of tea, to see the three men had still not moved, and sighed, waving her wand so the cups distributed to the three men. Sirius lifted his hand to grab his, eyes flickering to her before flying back to the ward door, as if the intensity of his eyes would cause the door to fly open, as if with that, a perfectly healthy Euphemia Potter would reveal herself, laughing at the state of the men. Fleamont lifted his arm as well, catching the mug and holding it between his hands in his lap, unlikely to drink it, simply for the warmth.

"James, you should drink something," Lily's voice was in James' ear, and he turned slowly to look at her, as she took in his hair, standing in odd directions from how much he had pulled it over the past few hours, his cheeks raw from his rubbing his tears away, and his eyes, still wet, bloodshot from the tears they had shed.

"I can't," he choked, and Lily felt her heart shatter at the broken-hearted tone. She grabbed one of his hands off his knee, and held it between both of hers, squeezing it tight, unable and unsure of what else she could do for him. She knew nothing she could do or say would make this situation any easier on him.

They sat there for three quarters of an hour longer, James and Lily not breaking eye contact, his hand still securely between both of hers. Sirius had chosen instead to watch the two of them, their familiar exchange and obvious love for each other easing his torment infinitesimally. Fleamont had still not moved.

Finally, the door to the ward burst open.

* * *

"You all look terrible."

Euphemia smiled at them as they entered, her voice sounding incredibly weak. Three pillows propped her up, her hair was gray, speckled with strands of the midnight black it had once been. Fleamont stumbled forwards, grabbing one of her hands in both of his, his eyes, showing a little life after the many hours he had been in that chair, staring right into hers as they started to tear once more.

"None of that nonsense," Euphemia wheezed, attempting to raise her other hand to wipe Fleamont's face, but her body was ultimately too weak, and it fell gently to her stomach. Her eyes left her husbands face, falling on her son, her beautiful perfect son, who was standing in the doorway with wide, frightened, confused eyes, "James," she whispered, eyes lighting up, a small smile forming on her aged, beautiful face. When James didn't move, Lily, who was standing behind him with Sirius, placed a gentle hand on his back, lightly nudging him.

"Go James," she murmured, and he took a clumsy step forwards.

"We should leave," Sirius muttered, "give them some time together," and Lily nodded, getting a final glimpse of James as he near-ran to his mother before Sirius closed the door.

* * *

Sirius and Lily arrived back at Sirius' place in Diagon Alley, surprised to find Peter, rather than Remus, pacing around the living room, wearing a dressing gown over his pajamas, wringing his hands with worry. His eyes shot to the two in the doorway, and he kicked Remus' bed, causing the boy to snort as he shot up.

"What happened?" Peter demanded, striding over to the two and guiding a disoriented Lily to Remus' bed, seating her down next to Remus, who shifted to make some space for her, putting his arm around her shoulders and rubbing her arm soothingly, "Is she okay? What did the Healers say?"

"Dolohov Senior hit her with some nasty curse," Sirius sighed, accepting a piece of chocolate that Remus tossed to him, "It seems to have done a real number on her insides, but the Healers just let us in to see her," he continued, but was cut off by Remus spluttering.

"Just now?" he gasped, and Lily nodded mutely, accepting another piece of chocolate from Remus as Peter ran to the kitchen to bring them both steaming mugs of tea.

"The Healer told us what happened before he let us in to see her," Lily said, "The curse must have been created by Dolohov himself, or one of the other Death Eaters, because she had no record of a spell that had the ability to do such damage. They had to remove one of her kidney's and her spleen because they were completely charred and would probably do more damage if they were fixed than if they were removed," she sighed, dropping her head into her hands, Remus and Peter exchanging an alarmed look.

"The curse apparently burns up your insides, or something of the sort," Sirius sniffed, falling into one of the dining chairs, holding the mug between both of his hands. His dark hair was dirty, greasy locks fell into his face as he looked down at the mug, "Sounded like the precursor to whatever spell Hermione was hit with in the fifth book," he added, and Lily groaned, shaking her head slightly, head still resting on her knees.

"How does she seem?" Remus asked, and Sirius lifted his shoulders in a jerky shrug.

"We left Prongs and Papa Potts to it," he said, his lips quirking up slightly at James' nickname for his father, "She sounded weak though," he added quietly, and Remus didn't miss the way Sirius' lower lip trembled slightly.

"Well she's been through a lot today," Peter said, his beady eyes darting between Lily and Sirius, as if afraid he would accidentally set someone off by saying the wrong thing, "Hopefully with a little rest she'll regain some of her strength."

"He's right," Remus said, nodding his head.

"A curse like that at her age, it's a miracle she's alive," Sirius sniffed, before putting down his mug and walking swiftly to his bedroom as his eyes began to water. Lily lifted her head and followed him with her eyes, wincing slightly as his door shut with a little too much force.

* * *

"How are you?" James asked, sitting on the armchair beside his mother's bed. Her head was turned to face him, and her smile grew slightly at the sound of his voice.

"You worry too much dear," she said softly, her kind eyes scanning over her precious sons face.

"I wouldn't have to worry if you took better care," he said, intending to sound aggressive and annoyed, his tone instead sounding teasing. She let out a tinkling laugh, and across from James, Fleamont smiled his first true smile in hours.

"I'm doing fine, my love," she said, and James rolled his eyes.

"The truth please, mum," he said, and Fleamont chuckled, placing his hand delicately on top of Euphemia's head. She looked up at him and smiled.

"Fleamont," she said quietly, and he continued to smile down at her, "I want you to give James the ring," she said, and James' eyebrows shot up.

" _Ring_?"

"It was Fleamonts mothers," Euphemia said quietly, her tired eyes shifting once more to her sons, "She gifted it to me the day before she died, when I informed her that I was pregnant with you. It's a part of our family's heritage, it's been passed down for at least a century. I want you to give it to Lily."

Fleamont spluttered, utterly flabbergasted that his wife were suggesting his son propose at the mere age of eighteen, "They just graduated from Hogwarts not three days ago!"

"And when did we get married?" she asked gently, "If I remember correctly, I was seventeen, and you were eighteen, am I correct?" she added, looking up at her husband, who flushed and scowled at his wife.

"Times were different!" he protested weakly, but Euphemia merely rolled her eyes, rolling her head to face James once more, to see her son looking less shocked than she expected.

"Something on your mind, dear?" she asked, and James smiled slightly, rubbing his eyes with his hands, "I was under the impression you intended to marry her, or was I mistaken?"

"I was going to ask you if you thought it was a good idea at graduation, actually," he said, remembering watching as Lily hugged his mother, her fiery hair mixing with his mothers' salt and pepper, and knowing in that moment that she was the one he was going to marry, and the indescribable, overwhelming feeling he had that he wanted to do so sooner rather than later. Euphemia beamed at her son, before hushing her husband, whose eyes were wide with a number of emotions, "I assumed you'd tell me to wait."

"These are times of war, my love," she said, lifting her hand and placing it gently on her son's cheek. James' hand shot up to cup her hand, meeting her eyes, the exact shade and shape of his own, a hopeful look in his eyes, "It's getting worse out there, he's getting stronger, as are his followers. I pray you have a long, happy life, my son, and when you pass, you do so an old man, peacefully in your sleep," she sighed, blinking quickly as a few tears trickled out of her eyes, falling across her face and onto her pillow. Fleamont reached forwards quickly, producing a handkerchief from his pocket, and dabbed at her eyes, "Merlin forbid your time should come soon," she continued, her voice pitched slightly higher as she attempted to speak through the enormous lump in her throat, "However, if the worst should happen, I want you to pass the veil with no regrets," she finished, and James dropped his head, hiding his tears, as his father dabbed at Euphemia's face once more, before attempting to be subtle about wiping away his own tears, "If she is the one, age and time become irrelevant. Do not afford societal expectations the right to dictate your life, my love."

"Besides," she added, smiling slightly as she reached out to nudge her son's chin so he was looking up at her aged face, "your father and I are getting ahead in our years. When my time does come, I want to leave knowing you are happy and taken care of."

* * *

James returned to Sirius' flat two hours after Lily and Sirius had arrived. The visiting hours had ended, and his father had opted to spend the night in his mothers ward, transfiguring one of the armchairs into a cot despite Euphemia's protests that he was far too old to be sleeping on something that lacked the appropriate support, and that she would be able to handle sleeping in a room by herself for a night. Fleamont had reminded her that she had not slept alone in 46 years, which was a large portion of her 63 years. James had chuckled as his mother brushed his fathers comment off, telling him once again that he was far too old, at the age of 64, to be sleeping on a shoddy mattress, and that she would not be sympathetic to complaints about his back the next day.

He pushed open the door and heard their four voices in the kitchen, the smell of shepherds pie, his favourite, wafting towards him. He quietly made his way to the room he was sharing with Lily and stashed the ring box out of sight at the bottom of his trunk. His father had made a quick trip to the Potter Place to retrieve it, after instructing James at least forty times that he was under no circumstance to leave his mothers side. Quietly making his way back to the front door, he opened it once more, closing it with increased volume so they'd assume he had just arrived.

There was a scrambling from the kitchen and Lily sped out, Sirius on her tail. She stopped, facing James, assessing his reaction, her face softening when he gave her a small smile. James opened his arms in time to catch her, holding her close and burrowing his face in her hair as she kept a steel-strong hold around his neck, her face buried in his shoulder. For the first time since he had received the message from his father, James felt his body relax, the tension draining out of his shoulders and pouring down his body, his shoulders dropping slightly as he breathed in her familiar scent.

"All right?" Sirius asked as James met his gaze over Lily's shoulder, and James nodded as Lily released her hold, taking a step back to rest her hands on his shoulders, looking up at him with worried eyes.

"She's okay," he replied, nodding at both Remus and Peter, who were standing in the kitchen doorway a couple feet behind Sirius, watching him warily, "Dad's spending the night in the ward with her, so he'll let me know if anything happens," he said, and Sirius released a relieved breath, sinking once more into one of the dining chairs. Though she was James' mother, Sirius loved her like his own. The Potters were his adoptive parents, and he had known more love from Euphemia than he had from his own mother.

"Are _you_ all right?" Remus asked, and James sighed, nodding slowly, his eyes closing as Lily's small hand slid from his shoulder to take his hand, squeezing it slightly.

"It's been a long day," James finally said, giving his friends a small smile, and the three boys released quiet chuckles.

"You can say that again," Sirius mumbled, standing up, subtly wiping his eyes, and stretching his arms above his head, "I'm fucking starving."

"Of course you are," Lily laughed, rolling her eyes as she turned her eyes away from James' face to throw Sirius an amused look. James grinned at his best friend, the feeling of his skin stretched across his face in such a manner feeling foreign after his time at St. Mungo's.

"Is it ready?" James asked, and Peter squeaked, turning around quickly to turn off the stove as Remus rolled his eyes.

"You had one job, Wormtail," Remus grumbled, pulling his wand out to summon the plates and cutlery to set the table.

"I've been a bit distracted, you prick," Peter's voice called back, and James laughed, putting his arm around Lily's shoulders and pulling her to him in a one armed hug.

"What time are you going to head over to St. Mungo's tomorrow?" Lily asked him, looking up to meet his eyes. James stared down into her gorgeous emeralds and his mind flashed to the ring hidden in his trunk. Having the ring within his reach, he just wanted to ask her. She was one person he wanted to tell everything to, and being unable to tell her about the ring was going to drive him crazy. He contemplated popping the question that night, but as Sirius walked over to pull James into a hug (pushing Lily away in the process, causing her to roll her eyes and James to snigger), he thought that perhaps he should wait some more time.

* * *

Sometime in the middle of the night, a foreign owl pecked on the glass of Sirius' bedroom window. Grumbling, he pushed himself out of bed and let the bird in, stumbling over to where it was perched and clumsily untying the parchment from it's foot, his blurry, sleep clouded vision making the task much more difficult. The owl departed the second he had the scroll, and he slammed the window shut.

A minute later, Sirius was sprinting out of his room, wide awake, and banging on the door of Lily and James' room.

"What the fuck?" a deep voice mumbled from the other side of the door, and the door flew open, revealing a very sleepy Lily on the other side, James still lying in the bed, hand searching the bedside table for his glasses.

"What is it?" Lily yawned, her hair tangled in a nest on top of her head, rubbing at her green eyes. He grinned and pushed the parchment into one of her hands, watching as she sleepily scratched her head with her other hand. Her hand stopped suddenly, and she froze, her face rising to look at Sirius, an excited twinkle in her eye, "Oh my _god_ , Sirius!"

"What is it?" James grumbled, crawling far enough towards them that he could lean over and read over Lily's shoulder.

Inside the scroll was written an address in narrow loopy handwriting, and a single tail feather of a phoenix.

* * *

 **So there's the next chapter! Let me know what you think!**

 **I'd like to make it clear that I do intend on following the timeline as it was in the Harry Potter books, before, of course, James and Lily died.**

 **For that reason I would just like to point out a few things:**

 **1\. James and Lily got married at 18 (according to Harry Potter Wiki), and died at 21.**

 **2\. Harry Potter wiki also says the first Voldemort "war" was between 1978 and 1981 (which was when Harry defeated him). 1978 is the year the Marauders graduated from Hogwarts.**

 **3\. Harry will be born on the same day as he is in the books, because of science (it would be a different baby if it was a different sperm/egg at a different time and I'm very attached to Harry).**

 **4\. James' parents' names were actually Fleamont and Euphemia, so I changed them from what I had them named in TMATSS and TMATCOS.**

 **5\. In terms of James' parents age: I have Euphemia at 63 years old, since it says James' parents had him very late, which suggests she was probably around 45ish when she got pregnant with him. I also have her getting married at 17, which is how I have Euphemia and Fleamont having been together for 46 years.**

 **t.t.**


	4. The Phoenix Rises

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything in the Harry Potter universe, other than this storyline.**

* * *

"This is fucking ridiculous," Remus grumbled, as a frantic Lily pushed him out of his bed, "It's half three in the morning."

"That's the brilliance of it!" Lily squeaked excitedly, trying to shake Peter awake for the fourth time. James and Sirius were preparing five coffees, "Nobody's going to suspect anything at half three in the morning. It's much more secretive and mysterious this way," she said, shoving Peter again. The blond boy snorted, rolling away from her pesky little hands. Lily huffed irritably, "Wake him up, will you?" she said to Remus, who snorted, walking at a lethargic pace to his trunk to pull out some muggle clothing.

"Wake him up yourself," he grumbled, and James snorted, walking into the room with three thermoses, handing one to Lily and the other to Remus.

"We should have just left without them," he said, and Remus threw him a snarky look, pulling on his trainers as Sirius sauntered into the room. His dark eyes fell on Peter, still fast asleep.

" _Accio blanket_ ," Sirius said, pointing his wand at Peter, and the blond boy squawked as he was hit with the cold air, sitting up quickly to see his friends fully dressed.

"Wuzgoinon?" he mumbled, voice thick with sleep, as he rubbed at his blue eyes, "What time is it?"

"Half three," Remus said bitterly, and Lily rolled her eyes as James smirked at his friend.

"Don't come to the Order meeting then, mate," Sirius shrugged, crossing his arms and starting to tap one foot impatiently, watching as Peter's eyes widened and he near threw himself towards his trunk.

* * *

The Muggle street was dimly lit, the pavements glistening as the chilly drizzle fell, slapping at the road. The rain felt like icy shards piercing their skin, as they stumbled, half blinded by the wind, to a shabby building at the top of the road.

"Why isn't it better protected? Anyone can see it," Remus hissed, ducking his head against the raging wind.

"It's because we know the address, dipshit," Sirius growled back, as they finally turned into the small driveway. Lily danced to the wooden door and knocked, the sound barely audible over the screams of the wind. Her hair was plastered to her neck and shoulders, eyes squinted against the aggressive rain.

It was pulled open by a large man, thrice the size of any regular man, and Lily let out a squeal, eyes lighting up as she took in the bushy beard and kind beetle like eyes.

"Hagrid!"

"Hullo yeh lot," Hagrid chuckled, patting Sirius on the back as he walked in behind James, causing the boy to stumble forwards. A chuckling Remus reached forwards and snagged the back of Sirius' shirt, stopping him from falling flat onto his face, "Come in, come in, yeh're just in time, Dumbledore's 'bout to arrive."

The house was incredibly well polished on the inside, cream walls making the place feel cozy despite the pattering of rain drops against the windows and the light rattling of the wind on the windows. Bronze brackets on the walls held candles, giving a mysterious and downright magical feel to the place. There was no furniture in the front room. Hagrid led them down the corridor to a door on the right, through which the whispering of voices sounded, as though hundreds were gathered.

Lily looked up at James and squeezed his hand, and he grinned down at her, allowing her to pull him faster, to keep up with Hagrid. The other three quickened their pace to keep up with them, Peter wringing his hands nervously as he took in his surroundings. They turned into the room and found that there were not a hundred, but at least thirty others in the room, most of whom didn't acknowledge the arrival of more teenagers. Many were closer to their own, however, and eyed them with interest. James noticed a particular set of twins, their dark brown hair mingling as they whispered to each other about the new arrivals. The burlier of the twins noticed his attention, and winked at him, tipping an invisible hat, while the other motioned for them to come over.

"James Potter," he said, approaching the twins and holding his hand out. They grinned identically, before both reaching forwards as well, taking it in turns to shake his hand, as well as the other fours. James made it a point to hold tightly onto Lily's hand, making sure the message went across. Lily, realizing what James was doing, shot him an amused look, but didn't object otherwise, politely greeting the twins.

"Gideon Prewett," the burlier one said, shaking Sirius' hand.

"Fabian," the other called, from where he was clapping Peter on the back, "first timers?"

"We weren't thrilled about the timing the first time either," Gideon said, smirking as Remus yawned widely, earning an exasperated smack in the arm from Lily.

"Is it always in the middle of the night?" Lily asked, and the twins nodded.

"Makes it much more discreet, Death Eaters probably expect all of us goody goody's to sleep at night," Fabian said, and Gideon smirked.

"Only when we're unlucky," he said, winking at a pretty young woman across the room, who simply rolled her eyes and turned away. Sirius sniggered at the innuendo as James smirked at Lily's mildly scandalized expression, "my girlfriend," he said to James, "she's rather cross with me at the moment though."

"Why?" Remus snorted.

"Well, let's just say one of us is far more adventurous than the other," he replied, "sexually," he added, noting Peter's slightly confused expression, which quickly morphed into one of embarrassment, "Excuse me for keeping things interesting," Gideon shrugged, before winking at Lily.

"On that lovely note, I think I've just spotted a friend," Lily said, her voice shaking with suppressed laughter as she turned in the direction of Alice, who had just walked through the door, hand in hand with Frank Longbottom.

" _Lily_?" Alice squeaked, running over to her fiery haired friend, who caught her in a sisterly embrace, "Oh thank _Merlin_ , I was terrified we wouldn't know anyone here," she said, clucking her tongue as she motioned for Frank to follow. Frank grinned at Lily and pecked her quickly on the cheek, before standing up and putting his arm around Alice's waist, a boyish smile on his face.

" _That_ is what you were terrified of? Get your priorities straight sis," Fabian snickered, and Alice threw him a scathing look as Frank smirked.

"You're related?" Remus asked, and Alice rolled her eyes.

"Unfortunately," she said, and the twins pouted at her, "at least it's distant," she said, and Gideon snickered.

"We decided to reconnect the family when Dumby set this up last year," Fabian explained to Peter, who smirked as Alice rolled her eyes.

"Lily, honestly, you've been reduced to spending time with my lunatic cousins," she said, and the boys gasped once more, "come sit with me, let the boys have man time," she said, and Lily threw a grin at James, who winked back as Alice dragged her to a seat.

"You didn't tell me you were part of the Order," Lily said in an accusatory tone, quirking a brow at her best friend as they sat down on a small settee, crossing her legs as she watched the boys chatter.

"I _couldn't_ Lily, I'm not Secret Keeper, I would've had my tongue cut off!" Alice gasped, and Lily rolled her eyes as her friend grinned at her, Alice's chocolate brown eyes twinkling with humour, "What would I do without my _tongue_ Lily? It would make snogging so much more difficult!"

"You wouldn't sacrifice your tongue for our friendship?" Lily sniffed, and Alice laughed, leaning her head on Lily's shoulder as the redhead giggled.

"Give up snogging Potter and we'll talk."

"I don't mean to interrupt," an amused voice said from beside them, and they turned to see Fleamont Potter smiling down at them, "Fleamont Potter," he said, reaching out to shake Alice's hand as Lily laughed at her frightened expression.

"This is my friend Alice Prewett," Lily said, "Alice, this is James' father." Alice shook Fleamonts hand dumbly as the boys made their way over, James having spotted his father.

"What are you doing here?" James asked, and Fleamont smiled at the mildly outraged expression on his son's face.

"Your mother is asleep, I'll be heading back there after this meeting," he said, and James nodded, eyes losing their edge as Fleamont clapped him on the shoulder. Just then a hush fell about the room and Dumbledore walked in, a small smile on his face as he took in the familiar faces.

"Please, be seated," Dumbledore said, waving his wand to create more chairs than necessary, "to our older members, welcome back, to our newer, welcome," he said, smiling as his eyes skimmed to Lily and the Marauders, "to the Order of the Phoenix."

"Our goal is to do whatever we can to fight against the darkness that has entered our lives. By this I, of course, mean the threat presented by a man who calls himself Lord Voldemort," he said, and Lily noticed James straighten slightly, paying rapt attention, "Before we do anything further, however, I would like us to take a moment to mourn the loss of the innocent lives we lost earlier today, during a vicious attack in Central London."

The room filled with silence, broken by a few sniffs from an old man across the room.

"This tragedy brought about the loss of a few of our own, and I would like to take a short moment to honour the lives of Ms. Deirdre Miller, daughter of Mr. Alexander Murchison, her husband, a lovely muggle by the name of Mr. Jackson Miller, and a very dear friend of mine, Alphard Gudgeon," Dumbledore said, and the sniffing old man let out a small sob, shaking his head, "she fought against the Death Eaters valiantly, and her husband bravely rescued a few muggles before he was struck by falling debris. Alphard was a great Auror, who took down and helped us arrest no less than twenty five of Voldemorts supporters in his time. A moment of silence to honour these two, and all the other nameless victims, please."

James was shaking slightly as he looked at his father, who bowed his head sadly. He felt Lily's small hand slip into his own, and looked at her to see her eyes glassed over slightly.

"Thank you," Dumbledore said gently, his piercing blue eyes, wet with unshed tears, travelling to rest on Mr. Murchison, who had now given up on keeping his mourning quiet, "As you know, we cannot keep these meetings very long, therefore I will get to the point quickly. First, I would like to let you all know that I have discussed with our Minister for Magic the need to alert the Muggle Prime Minister of Voldemort's existence and schemes. He is yet to schedule a meeting, but did agree to do so," he said.

"Fucking _finally_ ," Gideon grumbled loudly, earning a smack from the girl Lily recognized to be his girlfriend. Sirius snickered, and Fleamont shot him a mildly chastising look, an amused smirk on his own face.

"I do in fact agree with your assessment, Mr. Prewett," Dumbledore said, eyes twinkling as Gideon smirked down at the girl, "On to more important matters, I have it on good authority that Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters are too having a meeting tonight."

"Shouldn't we try to spy?" a young man across the room called, and Dumbledore shook his head somberly.

"I am afraid the time of spying on their get together's has past, Mr. MacMillan," he said, "It seems they have become aware, following the last time we had spies visit them, and have too entrusted in protective charms," he said. A collective groan sounded around the room, and Frank swore under his breath.

"So how are we going to anticipate attacks?" a woman called.

"We cannot," Dumbledore said simply, "We must simply be prepared and respond as quickly as possible to any attacks. It is our only option."

"What if we sent in a spy?"

"Are you suggesting I ask one of our members to become a Death Eater?" Dumbledore asked calmly, and the woman shrunk slightly at his chastising tone, "I apologize, Marjorie, but I cannot allow members of our own to damage their souls by initiating as Death Eaters. The acts they would have to perform, the people they would have to hurt…" Dumbledore trailed off, his eyes closing as he shook his head slightly, "I simply cannot allow it."

"Dumbledore, if I may," a feminine voice said, and they turned collectively to look at a small dark-skinned young woman seated at the back, "perhaps the time has come for us to consider ending Voldemort himself?"

"Do not fret, Beatrice, I already have a team instructed to find his weaknesses," Dumbledore said kindly, and the young woman nodded. Lily felt her face flush as Dumbledore's eyes landed on her for a quick second, the importance of their task becoming instantly much clearer, "Any other matters?"

"I heard somewhere that the Death Eaters were targeting Hogwarts," Fabian said, and Dumbledore smiled serenely at him as Lily's heart thudded.

"As long as I am there, Mr. Prewett, no harm will come to Hogwarts."

* * *

"That was the most useless fucking meeting I have ever attended," Remus grumbled, throwing himself onto his single bed.

"Are you mad?" James scoffed, "How was it useless? It was the most information we've ever gotten on Voldemort. The Ministry's been infiltrated, you prick. The Orders the only real hope."

"But I'm sleepy," Remus mumbled, quietly enough so James wouldn't hear him. Sirius heard, however, and smirked, tossing the dirty socks he was removing from his feet at him.

Lily rolled her eyes at their interaction, allowing Peter to push past her to lie on his own bed, before heading to the bedroom she shared with James. It was now nearing six in the morning, too late for them to fall asleep, but too early to do anything else. The sun had risen, casting bright light into Sirius' little flat, making it near impossible for them to even consider sleep.

"I'm off to bed as well," Sirius yawned, kicking Remus' bedframe, causing the boy to growl in protest, "Good night children."

"Padfoot, have you got a minute?" James said quietly, and Sirius quirked a brow, before following James into his bedroom. The door to Lily and James' room was shut, and James tiptoed by it before entering Sirius', "I need your help with something."

"What's wrong with you?" Sirius asked, watching with a quirked brow as an unnaturally jittery James paced in his bedroom.

"It's about Lily."

"What about her?" Sirius sighed, falling onto his unmade bed, knowing any conversation about Lily was sure to take far too much time and would ultimately be pointless, "If this is another rant about you being insecure about her feelings for you, or some similar rubbish, I really don't have-"

"I'm going to propose to her," James said quickly, lips twitching with amusement as Sirius shot up like a bullet, hair, for once, disheveled, as he looked at James with shocked eyes, his mouth open in shock.

"You're going to _what_?

"Are you deaf?" James snickered, and Sirius ignored him, scrambling out of bed to pace the room himself, ignoring the amused look James was shooting at him.

"Are you _serious_?" Sirius gasped, stopping in front of James, "I mean, are you sure? She's the one?" he asked, and James beamed at him. His best friends happiness became too much for him, and unable to remain rational any longer, he grinned back, "You're really doing this, aren't you?"

"I really am," James said, eyes shining with happiness, and Sirius grinned once more, clapping James on the shoulder.

"Congratulations mate, I'm happy for you," he said sincerely, genuinely happy for the boy, "How are you going to do it? When?"

"Now _that_ is why I want to talk to you," James said, and Sirius' expression fell comically.

" _Now_? You want to talk about this _now_? I've not _slept_ ," Sirius whined, and James beamed, ruffling his friends hair, causing the dog to squawk.

"Such behavior is not becoming of a best man, Padfoot," James said, and Sirius froze, turning his head to meet a smirking James' eye.

"Seriously?"

"No-one more Sirius for the job," James said, snickering to himself as Sirius rolled his eyes, groaning as he ran his hand down his face

"I don't want to do it, I'll have to make too many stupid puns in the speech, it's not worth it," Sirius said.

"Fine, I'll ask Moony then," James shrugged, a mischievous twinkle in his eye, "He did give me some pretty fantastic ideas the other day about string quartets and pixies sprinkling glitter-"

"Shut up you ponce, give it to Moony and I'll castrate you," Sirius said, pouting as he sat down on the edge of the bed, and James sniggered, clapping Sirius on the shoulder.

"Excellent choice mate, now, about this proposal-" Sirius groaned, flopping backwards so he was lying on the bed, knowing James was going to run through the hundreds of ideas he'd had about proposing to Lily for at least an hour, and then panic about proposing to Lily for at least another one, and it would be eight in the morning before he could realistically go to sleep. Watching James chatter excitedly about venues and what he would say, though, brought a small grin to Sirius' face nevertheless.

* * *

When Lily woke up, it was to find herself alone in an empty bed, in an empty room. The sound of voices wasn't filtering in through the door, suggesting that the boys were asleep still. The clock James had put up in their room told her it was nearing midday, which meant she'd had about six hours of sleep. Her head ached as she rose from the bed, throwing her dressing gown over James' Quidditch jersey, before running her hands through her hair, attempting for some semblance of decency, before opening the door quietly.

Remus and Peter were fast asleep, Remus' head buried underneath his pillow to avoid the light streaming in through a crack in the curtain. Lily giggled slightly as Peter groaned, bringing his knees into his stomach so his arse stuck up in the air. Sirius' door was still closed, so she wandered into the kitchen, looking for James. He wasn't in there either.

She was sure he would have left her a note if he had gone to St. Mungos, so she turned around, searching the small flat once more in the case that she had missed him, hidden underneath a bed or something similarly ludicrous. She checked underneath the bed in their shared bedroom (he was not there), before tiptoeing to the bathroom between theirs and Sirius' room (also empty). She slowly cracked open the door of Sirius' room, to see James and Sirius, facing each other, asleep.

Grinning, she shut the door, anticipating the moment they woke up to find their faces inches apart. She grabbed a few of the books Remus had stolen from the living rom, before settling herself on her bed, opening it up to a page on defensive charms, finding herself instantly caught up. She was ashamed of her own swottiness, admittedly, as she sat there for at least an hour, reading about the intricacies of the bubble headed charm, and how, in theory, with extreme skill and precision, by rotating the wand twelve degrees to the right while casting the charm could extend it to encompass the whole body. Lily's brain began to wander, and she imagined if _Protego_ could do the same thing, if twisting the wand a certain way would turn it into the body armor Remus had been talking about. She flipped the book to the index, looking through it for the word 'armour'.

She was so absorbed that she let out a small scream when there was a knocking on the small window in the bedroom, jerking her out of her studious reverie. She looked up, noticing a foreign owl hovering outside, holding a fat green envelope. Frowning slightly, she approached the window cautiously, letting the owl in and taking the envelope before it flew off. She sat back down on the bed, opening the envelope carefully, her heart thudding quite fast as she recognized the emblem on the wax seal.

 _Dear Ms. Lily Evans,_

 _We would like to offer you our congratulations at being accepted into the St. Mungo's Healer Training Program._

 _The program shall be commencing in two weeks time, on the 6_ _th_ _of July, please be sure to arrive in the St. Mungo's reception at 9:30am. We shall commence by examining your wand, so please be sure it is in proper working condition._

 _We look forward to meeting you._

 _Hoping this letter finds you well,_

 _Armando Smethywick_

 _St. Mungos Recruitment Officer_

 _St. Mungos Hospital_

Lily sat, frozen in shock as her eyes scanned the letter once more, twice more, three more times, before jumping to her feet. Before she knew what she was doing, she had barged into Sirius' room, the door slamming so loud the two boys sat up in alarm, and jumped onto the bed, jumping up and down, squealing like a mad person. Sirius fell off the bed as she jumped too close to him, and glared up at her.

"What? What's wrong?" James asked, alarmed, as he stood up, looking up at Lily with a worried expression. Upon seeing the glee on her face, he visibly relaxed, shaking his head and crossing his arms, keeping his hazel eyes trained on her as she grinned down at him, still jumping up and down like a child, "If you keep jumping like that you're going to hurt yourself," he said sternly, and Lily laughed, jumping off the bed onto the floor in front of him, beaming up at him.

"Thanks," Sirius grumbled, picking himself off the floor and flopping back onto the bed, "Some of us were sleeping quite serenely, thanks."

"If that's what you call snoring like a foghorn, I agree," Lily quipped, and Sirius snorted loudly.

"I don't _snore_ -"

"Well how would _you_ know-"

"How would _you_ know-"

"Enough," James said, putting his hand underneath Lily's chin and angling her face back up to his, his twinkling eyes betraying his otherwise stern demeanor, "What happened?" he asked, and Lily beamed again.

" _Look_ James," she thrust the parchment into his abdomen, and he reached his hand up to grab it, "I sent it _ages_ ago and they only just replied, literally like _five_ minutes ago, and I can't believe it, oh _James_!" she squealed excitedly, throwing her arms around his neck before he could even read the parchment. He laughed and hugged her back.

"Lily, how am I supposed to read it if you're squashing it between us?"

"Yeah, stop behaving like a bloody child," Sirius said, grinning up at them from where he was lying on his stomach. Lily turned around and stuck her tongue out at Sirius, who barked a laugh, giving James the opportunity to extract the parchment and scan it.

"Oh my _Merlin_ ," James breathed, looking back up at Lily, who beamed at him as a grin grew on his face, "Lily!" he laughed, wrapping his arms around her middle and swinging her around in a circle, causing her to squeal happily as she clutched onto his wide shoulders, "It's so _exclusive_ , you brilliant crazy nutcase of a woman," he laughed, leaning up to drop kisses all over her face, and she laughed, pressing her mouth firmly to his.

"This is disgusting, can you please do this elsewhere?" Sirius grumbled, dropping his face into the mattress, ears turning red as tongues very obviously became involved.

"Sirius! Sirius look!" Lily giggled, crawling next to him and shoving the parchment into his hands. Sirius turned his head, opening a bleary, bloodshot eye and giving her an irritated look.

"I have had almost no sleep Evans, don't test me," he said, noticing how James was alternating between grinning down at the parchment and Lily. Lily pouted at him and he groaned, pushing himself up and snatching the parchment from her hand. His eyes scanned it before snapping up to her face, alight with happiness as he beamed at her, "Hey! Way to go mate," he laughed, pulling her into a bone crushing hug, "You've wanted this for how long?"

"One year, three months and six days, but who's counting?" she replied cheekily, eyes twinkling, as Sirius threw his head back and laughed.

"This is absolutely brilliant, I am so happy for you love," James grinned, leaning down to ruffle her hair proudly, "I think this calls for lots of treacle tart," he said, and Lily giggled, nodding her head happily as she looked back down at the parchment.

"I'll go get it, I'm going to pop home to mum and dad to show them," she said, clambering off the bed and kissing James once more.

"We're supposed to be in Spain somewhere," James reminded her, and Lily shrugged.

"It starts in two weeks, I'd have to move back anyway," she said, and he grinned.

"Okay little miss Healer," he laughed, twisting her and nudging her towards the doorway, "hurry up would you? I'm craving some treacle tart."

"Bastard, I knew it was a selfish request," Lily scoffed, throwing him a wink over her shoulder as she made to close Sirius' bedroom door behind her, "While I'm gone you two can discuss how close together you were sleeping, and whether or not you need to discuss anything with me," she added, and the boys squawked, exchanging outraged looks.

"We were _not_ -"

"Why did you have to stay in _my-_ "

"Don't _flatter_ yourself, Padfoot-"

"Ta!" Lily called, shutting the door with a wicked grin on her face as the boys continued to bicker. James stormed out of the room a few seconds after her to pull her into a quick kiss, and telling her to come straight to Mungos after her parents', before she left.

* * *

"Darling!" Euphemia cried as James walked into the ward, closely followed by Sirius. Remus and Peter were still at the flat, the latter still asleep, Remus was going to follow them when the boy had finally woken up.

"How are you feeling?" James asked, kissing his mother on the forehead and taking her hand in both of his, "Did Dad take good care of you?"

"He did his best," Euphemia laughed, throwing a loving smile at Fleamont, who was morosely lounging on the sofa. Sirius sniggered and sat down next to him.

"She's still alive, isn't she?" Fleamont joked, and Euphemia laughed as James threw his father a sardonic look.

"How's your back?" James asked, and Fleamont sent him a scathing look as Euphemia rolled her eyes.

"It is fine," he replied, enunciating each word, and Euphemia scoffed.

"He hasn't gotten off that settee," she said to James, who grinned down at his mother's annoyed expression, "Did I tell him not to sleep on that wretched thing? Yes, yes I did. Did he listen? _No_ , of _course_ he did not!"

"Why didn't you transfigure it?" Sirius asked, and Fleamont threw him an irritated look as Euphemia grinned at her adopted son.

"Oh Sirius, my dear, if only you had been here earlier when Fleamont had momentarily forgotten how to do so," she said happily, and the two boys burst out laughing at Fleamont's outraged expression.

"I am sixty four years old, if I was still spending my time transfiguring objects into beds I would have to seriously reconsider my lifestyle choices," he argued, and James sniggered.

"Leave Dad alone Mum, you know how he gets," he stage-whispered to Euphemia, who smiled at her offended husband.

"Will _you_ at least be on my side?" Fleamont asked Sirius, whose amused gaze flickered back to Euphemia, "Keep in mind I put a roof over your head," he said, and Sirius barked a laugh as Euphemia shot her husband a warning look.

"Fleamont Potter, do _not_ suggest having Sirius in our house was a burden. It has been a lovely gift, my dear," she said to Sirius, who smirked as Fleamont spluttered.

"I said no such thing!"

"Hush," Euphemia said, gazing lovingly up at her laughing son, "How are you my dear? Did you both enjoy your first meeting?"

"I feel _enjoy_ is poor word choice," Sirius said, brushing his long hair out of his eyes.

"It was interesting," James agreed, the two exchanged a smirk.

"What's much more interesting and worthy of discussion, however, is your sons method of proposing to his girlfriend," Sirius said, and his parents grinned at James, who turned red.

"Padfoot, what is your _problem_ -"

"Now James dear," Euphemia cut in, and James threw Sirius a scathing look as the boy simply smirked back at him, unfazed by the murderous glint in his friends' eyes. He had been of no help as James ranted about his methods of proposal, having suggested he simply ask mid-shag, because nothing could be more romantic or passionate, earning a few well aimed jinxes, "have you thought at all about how you're going to-"

"LILY!" Sirius yelled, cutting off Euphemia as Lily approached their ward. She jumped so violently she almost dropped the box of treacle tarts she was holding, and narrowed her eyes at Sirius.

"You didn't have to bloody _yell_ Sirius, I almost had a heart attack," Lily hissed, ducking her head in embarrassment as a few Healers turned their heads to see who 'Lily' was.

"She has to work here, dipshit, don't embarrass her," James snickered, earning a smack in the arm from Euphemia.

" _Language_."

"Sorry mum," James grinned, and the old woman gave him one last stern glance before turning to Lily with a wide smile.

"Oh Lily dear, you got accepted into the Healer program?" Lily nodded shyly, smiling at Euphemia, who clapped her hands, "Congratulations darling! Come here so I can give you a proper hug!" James flushed as Sirius nudged at his leg, aiming a kick back at Sirius, who lazily pulled his leg out of the way in time.

"Hearty congratulations, Lily. It's a very difficult program to get accepted into, only a handful of trainees a year, I hear," Fleamont said, and Lily smiled at him before handing the box of treacle tarts to James.

" _Hearty congratulations_?" James sneered, "Who even says that anymore?"

"Your father," Fleamont retorted, and James snorted as Lily and Sirius laughed.

"Makes you sound at least a hundred," James muttered, opening the box and handing treacle tarts out to everyone else.

"He's not far off," Euphemia said jovially, picking at her treacle tart.

"I am _one_ year older than you."

"And you best not forget it," she replied, and Fleamont grumbled to himself, taking a large bite of his tart as the others snickered.

"How did the muggles take it?" Sirius asked, and Lily shot him an amused look.

"I don't know, but _my parents_ were very happy," she shot back, and Sirius smirked up at her as James snorted, grabbing another treacle tart.

"Do you know who your supervisor is?" Fleamont asked, and Lily shook her head, eyes wandering around the room as if a Healer would loudly mention that they happened to be supervising a young redhead named Lily Evans, "Ah not to worry, Healers are usually very pleasant people."

"They are?" Lily asked, biting her lip as she continued to scan the room, her tone betraying her worry, and James rolled his eyes as Sirius smirked at her.

"Oh yes, my dear, I'll introduce you to my Healers when they come check up on me, if you'd like," Euphemia said, smiling as Lily wrung her hands.

"You weren't this nervous an hour ago," Sirius sniggered, and Lily huffed.

"I wasn't _inside_ St. Mungo's an hour ago, you twit," she grumbled, and James laughed, "Oh shut it, you," she huffed, lips twitching up into a telling smile as James continued to laugh at her.

"I can't help it love, you're far too entertaining," James snickered, and Lily narrowed her eyes at him.

"I caught James and Sirius in bed together," she said, not breaking eye contact with James, whose eyes momentarily betrayed his shock before becoming amused once again. Sirius snorted loudly, as Euphemia and Fleamont exchanged an alarmed look.

"You did _what_?" a choked voice said from the doorway, and they turned to find Remus and Peter standing there, Remus looking incredibly amused and Peter looking much more confused.

"Remus! Peter!" Euphemia said happily, and the two boys quickly greeted her, "It's so lovely to see you two," she smiled, and the two flushed slightly under her admiring gaze. James smirked at their discomfort.

"I'm sorry, let's backtrack for a moment, if you please. Something you boys want to tell us?" Fleamont asked Sirius, who snorted, and gently shoved Fleamont in the shoulder as James rolled his eyes.

"Oh yes, madly in love," James deadpanned, and Euphemia gasped.

"I knew it!"

" _Mum!_ "

* * *

" _Yes_ Prongs, it sounds _great_ , it's a fucking _fabulous_ idea, doves will shit rainbows and pixies will fly out of your arse because of how beautiful it is," Sirius groaned, sipping on the muggle beer Lily had bought from a muggle supermarket down the street from the Leaky.

"Beautiful use of imagery, Padfoot," Remus snorted, sipping on his own bottle, "I can practically _see_ doves flying out of Prongs' arse."

"I said _pixies,_ you dumb fuck," Sirius sniggered, finishing his eighth bottle and throwing it towards the stupid recycling bin Remus had bought at the muggle store with Lily. The bottle hit the rim and bounced onto the floor.

"Mistaking doves with pixies doesn't make me a dumb fuck," Remus huffed, throwing his own bottle at the bin and missing as well.

"Either way, neither pixies nor doves are likely to fly out of Prongs' arse crack," Peter sniggered, and James snorted in agreement, "I think it sounds like a good idea."

"Yeah?" James said hopefully, "I think she'll like it. She bloody loves lilies, ironically enough, and I thought if I took her to that garden by my parents place-"

"Bloody _yes_ Prongs, like I said, farting pixies and shitting rainbows and all that, maybe she'll even shag you on a bed of roses," Sirius huffed, opening another bottle, and Remus snickered as James threw him a glare

"I've already told you it's a garden exclusively of lilies-"

"Fine mate, she'll shag you on a bed of lilies then."

"You can't really shag someone on a bed of lilies. In it, maybe," Remus reasoned, and Sirius looked at him with disbelief.

"Did you seriously just fucking say that?"

"He gets so _cranky_ on alcohol," James grumbled, throwing his empty bottle at the bin and missing as well, "What the fuck is wrong with the damn bin?"

"It's a _recycling bin_. Everything, is your answer," Sirius snorted, and Remus glared at him.

"There's nothing wrong with _recycling_ you bastard-"

"Yes, yes, environment, hug a Hufflepuff, ride a Ravenclaw, all that nonsense," Sirius grumbled, and James and Peter laughed as Remus threw Sirius a scandalized look.

"What does hugging a Hufflepuff and riding a Ravenclaw have to do with anything?" he squawked, and Sirius shrugged.

"Charity," Sirius said, looking as if he genuinely believed what he was saying as he took another swig, and Remus spluttered as the other two laughed harder.

"You better be glad Lily isn't here to hear you say that," Remus grumbled, and Sirius guffawed.

"I'm not scared of her."

"Okay," James chuckled, taking another swig, "I've never seen anyone cower under her gaze so much."

"Have you _looked_ in a mirror?" Sirius retorted, "I'm craving a fucking fag."

"No," Remus groaned, shaking his head, "Lily will destroy you. You know how she is about smoking."

"It's _my_ flat! She has no control over me!"

"Whatever you say," James snorted, and Sirius threw him a scathing look.

"I reiterate, I'm not as bad as you."

"Actually, James doesn't cower before Lily anymore, just snogs her to shut her up," Peter said, and James preened at Sirius, who scoffed.

"He does when she's furious," Remus pitched in, and James smirked.

"Who doesn't?"

"Prongs has a point," Sirius snorted, watching as Remus once more missed the recycling bin, "we're all fucking useless, how has no-one got it in there yet?"

"Peter hasn't tried yet," Remus said, and Sirius snorted.

"No offense mate, but you have the worst aim I've ever seen," Sirius sniggered, and James rolled his eyes, smirking behind the rim of his bottle as Peter squared his shoulders.

"Aim for Moony, you might get it in," James said, smirking to himself, and Sirius snickered, his laughter becoming more extreme as Peter flipped them off. Remus was sitting the furthest away from the bin.

"If I get it in, you have to stop talking about your bloody proposal. I can't take it anymore," Peter said, and James threw him a sardonic look as the other two laughed.

"I'm rooting for you mate," Sirius sniggered, and Remus snorted.

"Yes! _Please_ mate, for all of our sanity."

Peter threw the bottle at the bin. The boys watched eagerly, Sirius rising to his feet in anticipation, as it balanced on the rim for a split second, before tipping in. The boys let out a loud cheer, James laughing as the other three performed a celebratory jig.

"Fine, we'll talk about something else," James snorted, putting his feet up on the table and crossing his ankles.

"How about getting a fucking move on with this quest?" Sirius snorted, and James quirked a brow at him.

"Quest?"

"Yes, the horcrux hunt."

"I know what you meant," James smirked, swigging his beer, "I was just questioning your use of the word 'quest'."

"Sod off Prongs," Sirius guffawed, shoving his friend as Remus and Peter sniggered.

"And you had so much potential," James sighed dramatically, winking at Sirius, who snorted once more, downing the rest of his beer and chucking the bottle at the bin, missing once more.

"This _fucking_ bin!"

* * *

Lily returned later that evening to see the four of them standing on the other side of the flat, chucking empty bottles at the recycling bin, and summoning them back to see if they could make it once more.

"What is happening?" she laughed, watching as Remus made a particularly impressive shot from where he was crouched behind one of the beds, which had been turned onto its' side to create what she could only assume to be a fort.

"The fucking bin has win enough times, Evans, it can't win anymore," Sirius declared, obviously smashed, his eyes bloodshot and unfocused as he threw a bottle with all his might at the bin, hitting the wall and causing it to shatter instead. Lily rolled her eyes and waved her wand, vanishing the glass so none of the drunkards could get hurt.

"The bin is inanimate, Sirius," Lily sighed, giggling as James swung a bottle at the bin, hitting the rim, and swearing loudly, kicking at the frame of Remus' small bed, "Are you all smashed?" she asked weakly, feeling her question was incredibly unnecessary given the state of them; Sirius was attempting to stand straight, instead swaying at quite alarming angles; Peter was sitting on the floor giggling at the inside of a shoe; Remus was crouched behind his fort, peeking over occasionally to glare at the bin before ducking back down; and James was mouthing off quite fantastically, swinging a bottle and looking at the bin with a look of utmost concentration on his face.

"I haven't got it in even fucking once Lil-bit," James slurred, swinging his arm again and shooting the bottle at the bin. It smashed on the floor in front of the bin, and Lily vanished the shards once more, sighing as she watched James stumble over to her, "Did you-you have fun with your par-rents?" James asked, and Lily laughed, brushing his hair back off his forehead.

"I did, mum wants you to visit her," she replied, and James beamed happily.

"Here Lil-bit, you try," James said, handing her the empty bottle, and Lily rolled her eyes, tossing it into the bin with ease, "Whoa! You're a natural!"

"I'm also sober," Lily chuckled, "Go have fun, I'll make sure nobody dies," she giggled and, patting James on the cheek, pulled up a chair so she could mediate this nonsense, watching amusedly as James declared her the supreme ruler of all things bin related and Sirius grabbed an umbrella to knight her, while Remus continued to cower behind his fort, waving his wand nonsensically and making it snow, and Peter eventually passed out with his nose in the shoe.

* * *

James and Sirius returned to St. Mungos' for the entirety of the next few days, returning to the flat only to sleep, as Euphemia would be undergoing a series of tests to determine when she would be able to go home, and whether she would need any more treatment. She had been taking two potions four times a day for her organs' recovery, and was making large strides day by day.

Remus had taken charge of organizing their trip to the orphanage, where Lily, himself and Peter would be going to following day. He had decided that wasting time was no longer an option, especially given the increased proclivity of attacks.

"What do I say if they ask me where I live?" Lily squeaked, beginning to panic slightly as she stared down at the list of things they needed to prepare for the next day, "Or what colour I was planning on painting the room? Merlin! What if they ask to arrange a house viewing prior to approving the adoption?"

"Calm down Lily, just tell them you're just looking for children, you haven't decided on one yet, or something," Peter said, sucking on a sugar quill as he wrote down the list of everything that needed to go in Lily's bag.

"It's not like adopting pets, Peter, these are _children_. Nobody chooses a child based on what agency he or she is from, it's not like you're inspecting diseased kennels," Lily snorted, and Peter smirked.

"Well, actually-"

"Don't do it," Remus chuckled, watching as Lily inflated angrily at Peter's mocking tone. Her hair had grown twice the volume as she had agitatedly run her hands through it hundreds of times over the last few hours, "If they ask you where you live, give them a random muggle address in London, you know a few street names. If they ask about the room, say you're going to ask the child and help it paint the room as a bonding activity. IF they ask to see your place, say you haven't moved in yet but would be glad to invite them over after the process is complete."

"Okay, yes, no, that's perfect, yes, I'll do that," Lily stuttered, writing all those points down on another piece of parchment. Remus snorted as Peter turned ot him, amazed.

"That was incredible Moony."

"I know, Lily came up with it yesterday."

"So," Lily said after a few moments of agitated scribbling, "we're going to leave here at approximately 10am, with my bag full of everything we need."

"You will transfigure your appearance before we leave," Remus said calmly, as if speaking to an agitated toddler mid-tantrum, "I will get under the invisibility cloak and hold Peter, who will be in his rat form, in my hand so that there are no slip ups with the cloak."

"Yes, good," Lily nodded, scratching the side of her face with the quill as her tired eyes scanned the parchments in front of her, "My name is Alison Darby and I am forty three years old. I was raised in Kent, and am moving into a flat in…"

"Why don't you pick the address now, so you don't freeze at the orphanage?" Peter suggested, and Lily nodded jerkily, taking a few deep breaths. Remus rolled his eyes, getting up to fix them all another mug of tea.

"Okay, Alison Darby is going to move to…Langside Avenue, in Putney," she said, and Remus cheered as Peter sniggered.

"House number?"

"Um…21?"

"21 Langside Avenue, perfect," Remus said, resisting a chuckle as Lily beamed to herself, writing the address down on her damn piece of parchment, "Is it a bungalow or a flat?"

"Er, bungalow?"

"Are you sure?" Peter asked, amused, as he grabbed a ginger newt and began nibbling on it.

"Yes! Yes of course I'm sure," Lily huffed, before predictably writing that small bit down on the parchment, "It'll have two floors, three bedrooms," she nodded, and the boys smirked. Remus opened his mouth to ask another question and Lily huffed, "It has a kitchen as well, open planned, a garden with a swing set and a comfortable living room with a television and two settees, that's painted fucking lilac to give the inhabitant a comfortable feeling, are you fucking happy now?" she hissed, and Remus grinned wolfishly as Peter sniggered.

"Ecstatic."

"Finally," Lily said, rubbing at her eyes, "Er, where was I?"

"Lilac walls," Peter snickered, and Lily shot him an annoyed look as Remus hid a smile by sipping his tea.

"Oh yes, I was moving to 21 Langside Avenue, which is still being done up so I can't move in yet."

"What's your job?" Remus asked, and Lily groaned, massaging her temples.

"I'll be a teacher," she grumbled, and Peter quirked a brow.

"Why?"

"Because my mother is so I can use the stories she keeps telling me in case someone asks," Lily said, and Remus laughed.

"Brilliant idea Lil."

"Yes, _I know_. Anyway, I'm a teacher and I want to adopt because I want a family. What kind of child do I want? Oh I don't fucking know, shall I say a young girl? Yes then nobody can accuse me of impure intentions."

" _Impure intentions_?" Remus wheezed, as Peter roared with laughter, and Lily flushed embarrassedly.

"You never know!" she squeaked, her face turning almost as dark a shade as her hair, and the boys laughed harder, Peter doubled over in his seat and Remus throwing his head back.

"What is all this noise? We could hear you down the fucking corridor." The door opened and Sirius walked in, looking bewildered, followed by a very irritable James.

"Lily thinks people think she has impure intentions towards young boys," Peter wheezed, and Lily flushed darkly as James and Sirius regarded her amusedly.

"Care to explain?" Sirius smirked, and Lily scowled at him.

"No thank you," she grumbled, gathering her pieces of parchment and turning to meet James' eye, "what's wrong?"

"Something's wrong?" Peter asked.

"How do you know something's wrong?" Remus chuckled. Lily ignored them both, instead looking at James, who was regarding his friends irritably.

"Nothing is wrong," Sirius chuckled, ruffling James' hair, "Someone's mummy is getting discharged and they're not very happy about it," he said, and James glared at him as Lily squealed excitedly, Remus and Peter both smiling genuinely at the news.

"That's wonderful!" Lily said happily, looking up at James, whose expression didn't seem to reflect her sentiment, "Why aren't you happy about this?"

"I just, I mean, what harm would come from her staying in hospital a few more days? Just to be safe?" he blustered, raising his arms in exasperation, "She's old, she can't just be running around after she almost bloody _died_ -"

" _James_ ," Lily said gently, standing up and grabbing one of her boyfriends hands, not phased in the least as he pulled it away, "This is a good thing, it means she's better now-"

"Yes but this is my mum we're talking about Lily. Merlin knows the second she gets home she's going to respond to every fucking Auror alert they send and she's going to go out there and start fighting while she's _still sick-_ "

"We have both met your father, James," Lily said gently, not noticing as the other three boys slunk into the kitchen to avoid the potential James explosion, preparing herself for the outburst she could see growing in James' eyes, "He's not going to let Euphemia leave the house until she's _at least_ 200%. Maybe 300, if she's lucky," she said, chancing a small smile, and James crossed his arms, glaring down at her.

"This isn't a fucking joke Lily. This is my mother's _life_ and she's _going_ to fucking do something stupid and then _what_ am I going to do? What is my dad going to do? You fucking _saw_ him at St. Mungo's that day."

"James, she-"

"SHE GOT HERSELF INTO THIS POSITION, SHE COULD HAVE FUCKIGN DIED AND NOW SHE'S JUST BEING RELEASED AFTER ALL THAT WE WENT THROUGH AND-"

Lily cut James off by placing her hand over his mouth, watching as tears began to roll down his cheeks. The fire in his eyes dimmed slightly as he met her eyes, and she let out a small breath of relief, "James," she said gently, and he closed his eyes, tears starting to roll faster, "I know you're scared," she continued, treading carefully, "You're right, she does act faster than she thinks sometimes, but she has _you_ , and she has your father, and between the two of you, she's not going to be fighting alone for a very long time," Lily said, and James opened his watery eyes, his bright hazel irises meeting her emerald ones as he raised a hand to pull her hand away from his mouth, keeping it prisoner in her own.

"What if something happened to you?" James asked quietly, his voice raspy from the lump in his throat, and Lily's face softened, her other hand reaching up to cup his cheek, "I couldn't live with myself if-"

"You're working yourself up for nothing," Lily said kindly, "I'm fine, your mother is fine, and though I can't make any promises, I know you won't let anything happen to me," she smiled, and James sighed, dropping his forehead so it was resting against hers, closing his eyes to absorb the feel of her, "Be happy that your mother is being released, it means she miraculously recovered from that horrible curse. She's stronger than you're giving her credit for."

"I know," James whispered, "I just worry about them. They're so old-"

"That doesn't make them weak James. They'd kick our butts if they had the chance," she joked, and James chuckled, opening his eyes to meet hers.

"You promise you won't leave me?"

"I promise, I will let you die first," Lily giggled, and James rolled his eyes, lips twitching up at the corners, unable to fight off the contagious smile. He pressed his lips gently to hers, pulled away and sighed quietly.

"I should probably apologize to the lads."

"No apologies necessary mate," Sirius said jovially, walking back into the room and clapping James on the back. James groaned and lowered his head to Lily's shoulder as she giggled, "Now that you're done being a total dickhead, let's celebrate!" Sirius moved some of the parchments aside and the word 'orphan' jumped out at him. He picked it up carefully as Lily patted James consolingly on top of the head, giggling still, and skimmed through it.

"Fuck," Remus squeaked, walking out of the kitchen and noticing the murderous glint in Sirius' eye. Peter pivoted and re-entered the kitchen as fast as he could.

"What the fuck is this?" Sirius asked, holding the paper in front of Lily, who winced as James picked his head up off her shoulder to glare at Sirius, "what the _fuck_ is this?" Sirius asked again, waving the parchment, and James grabbed it, dodging Lily's small hands that were trying to grasp it back.

"Tell me this is a joke," James said in an eerily quiet voice, and Remus gulped, taking a small step back. James noticed his movement and spun his head around to glare at the werewolf, " _Tell me_ that this is a FUCKING-"

"It's not," Lily said quickly, before James could charge at Remus, who looked slightly terrified of the fire in James' eyes, "We decided it was best to get a move on and booked an appointment at the orphanage at 11 tomorrow morning," she said bravely, crossing her arms and meeting James' angry gaze with her own.

"Are you mental?"

"No," Lily said simply, eyes flashing as James crumpled the parchment and threw it at the wall, "Ther'es no need to behave like a _child_ -"

"Like a _child_? Lily _you're_ behaving like a child. You're all mad! You can't just go sauntering into the place without planning everything-"

"We're not _stupid_ James, we've been planning this for _days_ ," Lily spat, taking a step forwards so she could prod her furious boyfriend in the chest.

" _Days_?" Sirius growled, slamming his hand on the table, " _Days_ and you couldn't be bothered to fucking tell us about this? This isn't a little joke or adventure, it's _dangerous_ and for you three to not even _tell_ us is absolutely unacceptable!" Sirius roared, standing up, and Lily turned to glare at him, finger still poking James, who was breathing like a winded bull, in the chest.

"Well I'm sorry but if you two had _been_ here we might have mentioned it," Remus cut in, and the two boys' heads snapped towards him.

"Are you actually blaming my fucking _mother_ -"

" _No_!" Remus roared, shaking his head quickly as he glared at James, "You know I would _never_ do that Prongs, but you have to be rational enough to see that this was just productive planning. We have to take action at some point. It's the only way to end all this madness! What happened to your mother _did_ urge us forward, because it just goes to show what's at stake! If you two bloody obstinate fools can't accept that, and just take all this nonsense a blow to your fucking egos, then to hell with you," Remus growled.

"Our _egos_?" Sirius bellowed, "You think this is about our fucking _egos_?"

"Yes I do," Remus said sternly, glaring back at Sirius with as much anger as he was receiving from the boy, "If this situation had been reversed, and you two had been here planning this while we were at Mungos, it wouldn't have been an issue, now would it?" Remus said calmly. With that, he turned on his heel and stormed into the kitchen, leaving a seething duo in the living room with Lily, who looked quite stunned and impressed with Remus' handling of the situation.

"That's such bullshit-" Sirius began, growling angrily as his eyes remained glued on the kitchen door.

"He's right," Lily said in a small voice, and the two looked at her with disbelief.

"You think this is about my ego?" James asked, slightly wounded that she would think so little of him.

"Not exactly," she sighed, taking a step back from James to sink into one of the chairs, looking up at the two frozen boys with an exhausted expression, "he's right in saying that if the situation was reversed, nobody would have had a problem," she said, and Sirius scoffed, crossing his arms and turning away from her, "But it's not entirely about your egos. While I'm sure some of this is the fact that you weren't included, the real issue is that you're both just so protective that you'd take the brunt of it, I know that," she added quietly, looking down at the floor, "But things have to be done if we want this bloody war to end, and the sooner you understand that it's not personal, that we are capable of doing this, the better," she finished, continuing to look down at the floor. Sirius looked at her for a few moments, defeated and slumped in the chair, and sighed. He knew she was right, if anyone was capable of handling this situation as well as himself, or even better than he could have done, it would be Remus and Lily. He gently stroked her head before turning and walking into the kitchen to apologize to Remus.

"James," Lily said quietly, after a few moments of silence, afraid to look up at her boyfriend, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but I knew you'd react like this, and-" she broke off as she felt a few tears escape her eyes, and quickly reached up to bat them away. She felt as James kneeled down in front of her, nudging her chin with his finger to meet her eyes with his own. He reached up and wiped away the few wet remnants on her cheeks, before smiling slightly.

"You don't have to be sorry," he whispered, the brown in his eyes melting into her as she looked into them, "I'm sorry."

"No, I should have told you, I just-"

"It's okay," James said, cupping her face in both of his hands, his heart breaking at the pain and guilt in her eyes as she looked back at him, a few more tears escaping her eyes, "I'm just worried about you, I can't lose you Lily-"

"I'm just visiting an orphanage," she said quietly, and James chuckled, causing Lily to smile slightly.

"All this drama over an orphanage," he chuckled, pulling her to her feet, "I know you three can handle this by yourselves. It's really not even dangerous when I come to think about it. It just scares me that you might have gone and not told me about this until after. And what if something had happened and-"

"I wouldn't have," Lily said, shaking her head as she wrapped her arms around James' waist, effectively cutting off his tirade by burying her face in his chest, "I promise." Remus walked out of the kitchen then, his eyes falling on the couple.

"Guess you realized you were acting like an insulted hippogriff then?" Remus said coldly, and James sighed, turning to Remus.

"I'm sorry, I overreacted, I just-" Remus held up his hand, cutting off James' explanation, and giving him a small smile.

"Just behave next time," Remus said, and James smirked at him, "Prick," he added, and James snorted, putting his arm around Lily and heading over to where Remus was gathering the parchments. Sirius followed after Remus, Peter bringing up the rear, eyeing James warily. Lily picked up the crumpled parchment from where James had thrown it and unfurled it, straightening it out on the table, "Would you like to see them?" Remus asked, quirking a sardonic brow at James and Sirius, who nodded sheepishly, sitting in the chairs Remus pointed to, "then sit down and listen. No interruptions. No behaving like overgrown toddlers. No angry looks. No tantrums. Understand?" The two nodded quickly, eyeing Remus warily, and the werewolf rolled his eyes, sitting down next to Lily, who was once again staring at her bloody parchment, and gesturing for her to start.

"My name is Alison Darby, I'm forty three years old, I grew up in Kent and I am moving into a two story, three bedroomed house at 21 Langside Avenue in East Putney."

"And you are looking to adopt a…?"

"Daughter," Lily said quickly, and Peter snorted. Remus threw him a warning look, and then shot another one at Sirius and James, who looked like they were going to say something stupid.

"What time are we leaving?"

"Approximately 10am," Peter piped up, "Lily's going to transfigure her appearance to look forty three, and change her hair colour for good measure, and you're going to be underneath the invisibility cloak. I am going to be in my rat form, and you will be carrying me in your pocket so there are no slip ups with the cloak."

"Our appointment is with?"

"Patricia Waters at 11 o clock," Lily said, and Remus nodded, "When she takes me on a tour of the orphanage, I'm going to talk to her about how she raises the children and what they do during the holidays. I'll even drop in a cheeky compliment about how well kept the children look to butter her up," Lily said, and James smirked, wiping it off his face as Remus turned to look at him.

"You and I will remain in the small office, and if we're not in the right one we'll look for the real office, and we'll sift through the files while Lily goes about her tour."

"I'm going to try to make the tour last at least an hour," Lily said, "and that way I'll have enough time to ask questions, meet some children, and you should have enough time to go through files."

"Lily will let us know she is finished with her tour with Sirius and James' detention mirrors, of which we will have one."

"Hold on," Sirius interrupted, shrinking slightly under Remus' angry glare, "How are we supposed to know what's happening?"

"You'll just have to have faith," Lily said, and Sirius glared at her.

"Don't look like that," Remus huffed, crossing his arms, "The plan is well thought out, we've got our tracks covered, and once we exit the orphanage we just have to disapparate and we will meet you at the Potter Place."

"I don't like this," James sighed, pulling the mirror out of his pocket and handing it to Lily, who smiled at him before putting it in the packed purse (complete with undetectable extension charm) which was lying on the table. It also had forged identification, which would pass muggle standards of inspection, and muggle money that Lily had exchanged the previous day.

"Tough," Remus quipped, accepting the other mirror from a very grumpy Sirius, and handing it to Lily.

* * *

The sounds of clicking heels resonated in the marble corridor of the Lestrange home as Bellatrix sauntered down the halls, her hooded eyes admiring the portraits of Lestranges from centuries past; her new family. She smirked a portrait of Rodulphus' grandfather's great uncle, who was holding the head of a muggle in his hands, smirking at the painter.

Arranged marriages were common in the pureblood community, organized by parents wishing to carry on their bloodline appropriately. Bellatrix had been lucky in her arrangement, marrying into a family as dark as her soul, to a husband that took as much glee in the sight of blood and the sound of painful howls as she did.

"This way," a hoarse voice said from beside her, and she turned to see Lucius Malfoy gesturing to a hidden doorway in the wall. She entered, followed by Malfoy, to see a long table, the opposite end of which her Lord sat, patiently awaiting the arrival of his newest, and favourite, recruit.

"Take a seat," he said, gesturing to the empty chair across from her husband, "Now that we have all arrived, I would like to inform you of the brilliant trap young Dolohov has created," he said, his lipless mouth stretching into an unnatural, terrifyingly chilling smile as he looked up on the young man a few seats away from him, "A taboo. To capture our enemies."

"A taboo on what, my Lord?" a hooded Death Eater Bellatrix did not recognize inquired, and Voldemorts' smile widened, his red eyes flashing.

"My name, Avery. A trap, to capture all those who dare speak it, dare challenge me. I have already cast the charm. It shall commence at midnight."

* * *

 **Hello!**

 **Hope you enjoyed the chapter. I promise it's going to fill up with adventure soon!**

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 **MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL!**

 **t.t.**


	5. The Orphanage

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor am I J.K Rowling.**

* * *

It was unnatural how silent the streets had become. The clock struck midnight and the lights seemed to dim on Charing Cross Road; the wind picked up as the whisper of a name, a forbidden name, filled the ears of those around them and the temperature dropped. Muggles struggled with their umbrellas as they upturned, and looked up as the sky darkened to a dense charcoal, all signs of the well lit summer nights disappearing before their eyes as clouds soared and sewed themselves together into a blanket of darkness. The streetlights flickered.

Then the world shattered.

Dark shadows fell from the sky and in front of the ill-dressed individuals, materialized into devilish hooded people with bone white masks. Sparks and bangs went off, as the muggles crowded and stumbled down stairs to the underground, their screams echoing through the chill of the night air. Cackling mad laughter merged with their intensified cries as blasts scared a small crowd hiding in a deep doorway, whose faces froze with their final expressions of fear as green jets of light flew from every direction. A mother hid her daughters face in her stomach as a mask appeared in front of her, her light eyes widened in panic as her grip momentarily tightened on her daughters' hair, before her world went black.

"What was that?" Lily gasped, sitting up quickly and grabbing at James underneath the sheets, as a deafening boom sounded around Diagon Alley. Faint screams sounded in the distance as James sat up quickly, pushing his glasses onto his face, his eyes bright and sharply alert as he jumped to his feet, grabbing his wand off the night stand as he pulled Lily up with him. Thundering footsteps sounded and the door blasted open, the terrified face of Sirius Black on the other side, his dark eyes filled with unprecedented fear as he managed to choke out two words;

"Death Eaters."

There was a tap on the window and James turned to it to see a foreign owl bobbing outside, a scroll tied tightly to it's leg. He had just made to retrieve the letter when Remus and Peter burst into the room, wands in their shaking hands and eyes wide with panic.

"Do we do something?" Remus asked quietly, wincing as a distant scream reached their ears. His eyes shot down to Lily, whose eyes were shedding tears as she looked in the direction of the scream, and sat down next to her on the bed, grabbing her hand and squeezing it in a way he could only hope was reassuring.

"Dad says to stay indoors," James said, ruffling his hair as the sound of another explosion echoed, "Says that Dumbledore is going to send around a letter soon."

"We can't do nothing-" Sirius spluttered, but was cut off as Peter carefully placed his hand on Sirius' shoulder.

"We're not trained for this Sirius," Peter said quietly, wincing as Sirius shrugged his hand off and sunk to the floor, holding his head in his hands, eyes clenched shut to try and block out the noises, "Mr. Potter is right."

"So we're just supposed to sit here and listen? I'm not a fucking coward-"

"It's not about cowardice, Sirius," Lily said gently, eyes closing as the distant screams continued, "We cannot singlehandedly take on the Death Eaters. If we die out there, who's going to finish this?"

"This fucking sucks," Sirius growled, his wild gray eyes focusing on the window once more, before he pushed himself off the floor.

000

"A fucking taboo? Seriously?" James huffed, crossing his arms as he fell onto a sofa. He and Sirius had apparated to Potter Place to help his father get his mother settled in. Euphemia was lying across one of the sofa's, her head resting in her husband's lap as he stroked her hair, eyes fixated on Sirius, who was pacing frantically, a frown carved into his face.

"Language," Fleamont warned, and James shot his father an annoyed look as the man massaged the bridge of his nose. He opened his mouth to retort but recoiled under his mother's uncharacteristically stern look, letting out a deep breath and leaning forward, pressing the balls of his hands into his eyes so hard he saw stars.

"How does it work?" James choked, and Fleamont sighed.

"As far as we know, uttering his name summons the Death Eaters."

"How is that supposed to fucking help though?" Sirius growled, slamming his hand into the wall, and Euphemia's face softened.

"Please sit down Sirius," she said gently, and Sirius turned his angry eyes to her, his face softening as he looked into her kind eyes, "You look troubled."

"Of course I'm troubled!" Sirius whined, "We could have helped!"

"No, you couldn't have," she said gently, and James shifted slightly so Sirius could fall onto the sofa, "your intention is admirable, my dear, but these men and women have been trained by You-Know-Who himself! There's no way recent graduates could tackle them and live to tell the tale."

"Says you," Sirius grumbled under his breath, and James snorted in amusement.

"Where's Lily?" Fleamont asked James, and James' face fell as Sirius bit his lip, the mirror in his pocket burning a hole in his leg as he waited for it to buzz, for any indication that the others had made it home safe.

The fight had been a big one that morning, the three others against the two of them, insisting it would be safe to go. James and Sirius had been adamant that now more than ever, it was not safe for them to go poking around in You-Know-Who's past. In the end the others had decided they would be going despite what James and Sirius said; the mission had always been dangerous. Ensuring James and Sirius had a mirror, and promising they would contact them at every available opportunity, had been the only compromise the boys had accepted.

Just then the mirror buzzed, and the boys shot up, excusing themselves and sprinting into the next room, blind to the way the Potters' intelligent eyes trailed them into the next room.

000

"Are you sure?" Lily whispered to the empty space next to her, her calculating eyes taking in all the muggles they crossed. The street was modern, the kind that would have, under normal circumstances, been bustling with life. This morning, however, her footsteps could be heard echoing around the streets as her heels clicked against the floor. They had cast Silencing Charms on Remus' shoes, and the silence was starting to scare her.

"Yes, turn left up here," Remus whispered back. A jogger suddenly turned the corner and Remus swerved into Lily, causing her to slam against the wall and the jogger to stop, alarmed.

"Are you okay Madam?"

"Fine, thank you, sorry, heels, you know?" Lily giggled nervously, and the man smiled politely, very obviously considering her insane, before running off, "Damn it Remus!"

"Sorry!" he hissed back, his voice restrained from attempting to control his laughter. She could hear a faint squeaking and shot the air a nasty look, knowing the both of them were laughing at her.

"Don't do that again, for Merlin's sake, I don't want to draw attention to us," she huffed, fixing her jet-black hair quickly before striding off, knowing the two were beside her from the faint sound of squeaking, "Be quiet!"

"Fucking Pete won't stop wriggling," Remus huffed, "Stop it Wormtail!" Lily smirked to herself, turning the corner as the squeaking stopped, and Remus huffed once more.

"I see it," she said, eyes falling on the small building across the street. The building looked like it had once been grand; the walls of the four-tiered town house were a faded white, dotted with navy framed windows, four steps leading up to a rickety iron gate. She walked confidently to the steps, aware of the faint surge as Remus checked the orphanage for signs of magic. She leaned over and lifted the latch of the gate, holding it open longer than necessary to let Remus through, before approaching the door.

"Remember, you have an 11 o clock appointment with Patricia Waters," Remus whispered, and Lily nodded, fixing her appearance once more, taking a quick glance in the darkened window to ensure her face had still maintained the alterations, holding back a grimace as she looked into the unfamiliar honey eyes and faint beginnings of wrinkles, before taking a deep breath and rapping her knuckles against the door thrice, "good luck Alison Darby."

The door swung open and Lily looked down to see a young girl, no older than eight, holding it open, eyeing her curiously.

"Hello," Lily said, bending slightly and extending her hand to the little girl, "My name is Alison, I have an appointment with Patricia Waters?"

"I'll go get a grown up," the girl replied, nervously eyeing Lily's extended hand, before slamming the door, the sound of her little footsteps fading away.

"Rude," Remus grumbled, and Lily had time to roll her eyes before the door opened once more, revealing a flustered woman.

"I am so sorry Ms. Darby," she said, reaching out to clutch Lily's hand, "she has a habit of answering the doors, we keep trying to keep her contained but she just learned how to operate the locks and is difficult to keep track of at this point," she laughed, and Lily grinned.

"I'm here to see Patricia Waters?"

"Yes, please follow me," the woman said, letting Lily in, before shutting the door. Lily felt a hand on her shoulder and let out a small breath, realizing the boys had made it into the building as well, "She's a tough woman, she is."

"Oh, really?" Lily said, her voice betraying her nerves, and the woman turned back to throw her a sympathetic smile. She followed the woman into a small office on their right, and seated herself as the woman went to fetch Patricia Waters.

"Looks like all the files are in here," she murmured, and felt Remus clap her shoulder lightly. She glanced to her right as one of the drawers on the filing cabinet clicked, and released a relieved breath as an invisible force gently pulled it open.

"Looks like they have files on all the children in here," Remus said quietly. The door handle turned and he slammed the drawer shut, just as a rather large woman with a definitive air akin to that of Professor McGonagall strode in, her piercing eyes searching Lily as she took her seat. She continued to stay silent, watching Lily, eyes raking over her face, as if searching for signs or any reason to doubt her.

"Alison Darby," Lily said after a few moments silence, heart hammering, before reaching her hand out to shake the woman's, thanking the powers that be that the woman grasped her hand. She didn't crack a smile.

"Patricia Waters, pleasure," she said shortly, before opening the file she had been holding and sifting through a few papers, "It says here that you're looking to adopt a daughter?"

"Yes," Lily said, smiling politely as the woman's eyes flashed up once more to analyse her.

"I hope you don't mind, Ms. Darby, but we'll have to ask you a few routine questions before allowing you to see the children."

"That's no problem at all. And please, call me Alison," Lily smiled, rubbing her hands against her thighs to wipe off the beads of sweat. The woman did not reciprocate her smile, but instead pulled a pen out of a drawer and unscrewed the cap, placing it on the table before clearing her throat.

"You are how old?"

"Forty three."

"Where do you live?

"I have just moved here from Kent, but have found a property and will be moving in as soon as renovations are done."

"Where is it located?"

"Langside Avenue, just a little ways from Hammersmith station."

Patricia Waters said nothing, nodding her approval as she drew a very obvious tick in a box. Lily glanced down at the folder to see the pen lingering over a comments section, and cleared her throat.

"I've been very much looking forward to adopting a child and was looking at different property's accordingly. It's a lovely area and school busses run there regularly."

Lily paused as the woman gave her another searching look and wrote something further, before clearing her throat.

"Are you married?"

"No," Lily said, and watched as the woman started to write once more. It was clear the woman was not pleased with this response, as if wondering if there was a suspicious reason that an attractive forty three year old woman was unmarried, and Lily calmed the twinge of outrage at the idea that there was a problem with unmarried forty three year old women.

"Ms. Darby-"

"I'm widowed," she added quickly, starting to panic as red sparks flew at the clock behind Patricia. It was a system they had decided on, that Remus would shoot red sparks if she needed to step it up, just in case Patricia Waters was as tough as she had turned out to be. They did not have much time before James and Sirius started to panic and attempt to contact them, and she needed to get out of this office so the others could inspect, "two years ago. Car accident. We always wanted a daughter," she added, and felt the knot in her stomach release as Patricia Waters finally showed her some sign of humanity.

"I'm very sorry to hear that Ms. Darby," she said, face softening as she closed the folder and stood up, "Let me show you around."

000

"What the fuck took so long?" James growled, looking down into the mirror as Sirius looked over his shoulder.

"The woman was fucking terrifying," Peter squeaked, holding the mirror as Remus' fingers deftly sorted through the files. They'd drawn the window blinds and placed locking and silencing charms on the door, but had no idea when the muggles would need to access the office, nor of how much time they had since Lily no longer had the mirror, "Lily had to improvise and say she was a widow for the woman to finally act like a human."

"Clever of her," Remus chuckled, shutting the drawer and moving to the next one, "we were standing behind the woman reading what she was writing and the fact that Alison Darby was unmarried seemed to be a problem."

"Bet Lily didn't like that," Sirius snickered.

"What's going on now?" James asked, ignoring Sirius' snickers, "Where's Lily?"

"She's gone on some tour around the building, probably meeting all the orphaned girls. Since she doesn't have the mirror we don't know how long we have, so we're in the small front office sorting through files at the moment," Peter said, propping the mirror up on the desk and opening one of the drawers, sifting through the papers.

"I'm not even entirely sure what we're looking for to be honest," Remus grumbled, slamming the final drawer shut.

"Just look for anything to do with holidays or Merope Gaunt," Sirius said, and Remus sighed, "they have to have some record of people who gave birth at orphanages."

"We'll do our best, I suppose."

"We'll have to," Peter snorted, "didn't look like Lily was going to get much out of that woman."

"Maybe they have a file somewhere about Tom Riddle?" Sirius suggested, "He was obviously at the orphanage for some time."

"I just looked through the whole cabinet of files," Remus said, shaking his head even before Sirius had finished speaking, "I'm not surprised anyway. He would have destroyed it before leaving."

" _Fuck_ ," Peter breathed, and Remus turned his head quickly to see Peter looking up, panic stricken, from the folder he was holding, "I found it."

" _What_?"

Remus shot over and read the piece of paper in Peter's hands, "It's a list of everywhere they holiday regularly," Remus murmured, "accommodation arrangements, people to contact…" he trailed off, eyes scanning down the list.

"Any descriptions?" James asked, and Sirius snorted.

"Why would they describe it? They know where they're going."

"We should go," Remus said, turning back to the mirror to see James and Sirius' jaws dropped, "don't look so surprised, we have to go get Lily and get out of here."

"What do we do with this though?" Peter asked, waving the list at Remus, "we can't just take it."

"Copy it onto another parchment," James said, and Remus nodded, shuffling through the desk until he found a pad of paper. He ripped a sheet out and copied the writing onto the other paper, before folding it and shoving it into his pocket.

"Don't you crap on that when you're in there," Remus said, and Peter shot him a nasty look as Sirius sniggered. Remus' wand buzzed and he glanced at the door in panic as the supersensory charm alerted him of someone approaching, "Fuck, someone's coming, quick Wormtail!" he hissed. Peter was gone in an instant, replaced with a rat that scurried over to Remus, who was now rearranging the desk.

"Come straight here," James said, and Remus nodded before the mirror went black. He scooped Peter off the floor and shoved both him and the mirror in his pocket, just as the handle turned. Whoever it was couldn't get in, and he heard the rustle of keys, giving him enough time to dash to the other side of the room, throw the cloak over himself and wave his wand to remove the locking charm. The door opened to reveal the young woman who had shown them into the room in the first place, now directing another young couple in.

"Ms. Waters will be with you in a moment," she said, and Remus hurried to follow her out of the door before she closed it behind her. He followed her up the stairs with much difficulty, finding it difficult to maneuver around the children's toys scattered around the floor. A few doors down he could hear Lily's altered voice. The woman, however, continued down the corridor, knocking on another door, which opened to reveal the grumpy woman once more.

"How did it go?" she asked, and Patricia Waters shrugged.

"Seems nice enough. Children bloody love her," she said, before walking over to the door Remus was standing outside and opening it. Lily was sitting inside a room full of young girls, who were showing her their various toys and books, "Ms. Darby, I'm afraid my next appointment has arrived," she said, and Lily nodded, smiling and bidding the young girls goodbye before exiting the room, the children's choruses of 'goodbye!' ringing after her as the door closed.

"Are we heading back to the office?"

"My next appointment is waiting for me in there, Ms. Darby. If you wish to adopt any of these children, please fix an appointment and I'll have the papers arranged," she said, and Lily nodded, her hands becoming clammy with sweat as she realized she had no way of contacting Remus to let him know she was leaving.

"I think I might have left my wallet in your office," Lily said, and the young woman who had collected Patricia smiled.

"I was just in there Ms. Darby, there was nothing amiss," she said, and Lily nodded. _Damn_. She shook Patricia Waters' hand before allowing the woman to escort her to the front door, hoping Remus had been clever enough to follow the young woman when she had led the new appointment into the office.

As the door closed behind her, she noticed the woman peeking at her out of the curtain. Huffing angrily, she waved and walked down the stairs and path, not stopping until she had turned into the street parallel to the orphanage.

"Remus?"

"Right here," he said, and Lily let out a relieved huff, dropping her head into her hands, "Let's go this way," he said, and Lily shot a sardonic look in his direction.

"Maybe I should lead," she said, rolling her eyes as Remus snickered, turning and heading down the street. It was busier than before, no place where she could easily hide and chat with Remus.

"Go into a café," Remus hissed, grabbing her arm and pulling her out of the way as a cyclist went past, ringing their bell in thanks, "We'll go into that alleyway over there, transfigure ourselves and meet you. Get a table for three."

"Okay," Lily murmured back, eyes scanning the street, before she spotted a small café, "I'll be in that one," she said, nodding her head towards it, "the little yellow one over there."

"Be there in ten," Remus murmured, and Lily crossed the street. Remus turned into a small alleyway to his left. He pulled Peter out of his pocket and placed him on the floor. Before he knew it, Peter was standing underneath the cloak with him, and their shoes were visible to the outside.

"Damn," Peter hissed, crouching down so the cloak would cover his ankles, and Remus rolled his eyes,

"It's fine, we're in an alley, nobody's going to be looking. Here," he said, lifting his wand and tapping at Peter's nose, hair, eyebrows and mouth, "Now do me."

000

Lily looked up as two dark haired men walked into the restaurant and headed straight for her. They sat down across from her and she quirked a brow at the taller man, "Remus?"

"Obviously," the shorter of the two said, "Pete made me shorter than him, apparently it covers our tracks better," he said, rolling his now muddy green eyes, and Lily grinned at the taller man.

"It's just logic mate, no need to be so bitter," Peter said, grinning at Remus.

"How did it go?" Lily asked, leaning forwards, and Remus sighed, ruffling his darker hair.

"We got a list of their various holiday destinations, but nothing completely solid," he said, and Peter shrugged.

"Better than nothing," he said, and Lily nodded seriously

"You're right," she said, untying the bun she had put her hair into, allowing dark locks to fall around her shoulders, "All I got was that they regularly took the kids holidaying down south," she said, and Peter sighed.

"Guess we'll just have to go through the list and use the process of elimination," he said, and Remus grumbled.

"Would've been nice to have something more solid, but at least it wasn't a total bust," he said, smiling slightly, and Lily grinned at him.

"One successful mission down boys," she said, and the two grinned.

"And without the help of those two ponces," Remus snorted, and Peter snickered.

"Did you get a chance to talk to them?"

"Oh yes," Peter said, "They want us to go straight to Potter Place."

"There's no harm in having a celebratory coffee, is there?" Lily said, wagging her brows, and Remus shrugged.

"Suppose not, job well done and all," he grinned, and Lily smiled, raising her hand to signal one of the waiters.

000

"What is going on here?"

James and Sirius snapped around to see Fleamont Potter standing in the doorway, arms crossed as his eyes zeroed in on the mirror on their hands.

"Nothing Dad!" James said chirpily, hiding the mirror under his sleeve, "Just a casual chat with Remus and Peter."

"And just why are they searching through an orphanage's records?" he asked, and the two paled.

"How much did you-"

"I heard enough," Fleamont said, eyes narrowing as he looked between the two boys, "What are you two up to?"

"Dad, we can explain-"

"And you will," Fleamont said sternly, gesturing the two boys to go to the living room, and they exchanged a nervous glance.

"I-I'm afraid we, um, can't, sir," Sirius sputtered, and Fleamont's eyes narrowed infinitesimally. James winced under the murderous look his father was shooting them.

"Excuse me?"

"Well, you see, we-"

"What is going on?" Fleamont asked calmly, his voice thick with warning, and Sirius winced, turning his head to James, who sighed.

"We can't tell you Dad, Dumbledore's orders," he said. Fleamont's eyebrows shot to his forehead, and he frowned at the two of them

"And what exactly are a couple of graduates supposed to be able to do that the Aurors cannot?"

"I can't tell you," James said, wincing as his father's eyes narrowed, "It's a secret."

"You're only eighteen, James! Do not be so naïve!" Fleamont exclaimed, taking a few steps forward and placing both of his hands on his son's shoulders, his dark eyes glazed as he looked into his sons determined face, "It's dangerous. This isn't one of your Hogwarts pranks-"

"We're not idiots, Dad!" James shot back, as Sirius dropped his head in shame, unable to meet Fleamont's eyes as he turned to him, "We know what we're up against-"

"Knowing and being capable _are_ _not_ the same thing!"

"We'll be fine! We know what we're doing! We've got everything planned out, why can't you just-"

"That's enough."

The three men turned abruptly to see Euphemia leaning against the door frame, her frail legs shaking as he struggled to hold herself upright. Fleamont let go of James to catch her before she fell, supporting her body weight as she clung to his arm.

"Mum, what are you doing?" James sputtered, running over to help his father lead his mother back to the sofa she had been lying on, "You need to rest, you can't-"

"I can do exactly as I please, James Potter, do not tell me otherwise," she said, her eyes snapping to her son, who smiled sheepishly as Sirius wrapped the blanket around her. Her eyes flashed to the other boy, before turning back to her son, "What is it that Dumbledore has asked you to do?" she asked calmly, and Sirius cringed.

"It's top secret," he said quietly, shrinking under her sharp gaze.

"We found out in sixth year," James continued, and Fleamont's eyes widened in shock and anger, opening his mouth and cutting off the rest of his sons' sentence.

"Two years? Two years and you didn't feel the need to tell us you were going to be-"

"Hush," Euphemia said, placing her hand gently on her husband's forearm. He glared down at her, but she had already turned back to her son, watching carefully as James and Sirius exchanged a worried glance, "who knows about this?" she asked, and Sirius sighed, running a hand through his locks.

"The four of us and Lily," he said. Fleamont let out a faint whine and sunk down into the armchair behind him, dropping his head into his hands as Euphemia continued to gaze at the boys.

"And how dangerous is it?" she asked quietly, eyes shifting to rest on James.

"It's not dangerous yet," he hesitated, "But I'm pretty sure it'll be pretty dangerous if You-Know-Who figures out what we're up to."

" _You_ are the team he has working on You-Know-Who's defeat?" Fleamont spluttered, head shooting up to regard the two boys with shocked eyes, "tell me you're joking."

"Wish we could," Sirius said, eyes following Fleamont's head as it fell into his hands. James took a deep breath before walking over to his father and placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"We'll be okay Dad."

"Shut up James," Fleamont mumbled, and Sirius sniggered as James' lips twitched in amusement.

"Is that where the others are now?" Euphemia asked quietly, meeting Sirius' gaze, "carrying out some part of your mission?"

Sirius hesitated, exchanging a quick glance with James, "I can't tell you."

"I'll take that as a yes then," Euphemia sighed, dropping her head back to rest on the arm of the sofa, eyes closing as she continued to take deep breaths.

"So much for 'travelling'," Fleamont grumbled, and the boys smiled sheepishly as his angry eyes pinned them, "I can't believe I'm saying this…but if you need anything, you know where to come. And for Merlin's sake, be careful."

000

"We should probably be getting back," Lily said, putting down her empty mug of coffee and looking around the little café. A mother was feeding a small child in the corner, attempting to negotiate with the toddler, making the noises of a train as she waved the spoon in front of his mouth. Lily grinned at the sight before turning back to Remus and Peter, who nodded and pushed their chairs back.

"Thank you for coming! Have a pleasant day!" the chirpy waiter called, waving at them as they exited.

"Everyone here is so friendly," Peter commented, smiling as a child in a stroller grinned up at him with chocolate covered teeth as they passed by, "it's weird."

"Why is it weird?" Remus snorted, throwing his arm around Lily's shoulders as she laughed.

"You know, to think Voldemort grew up here."

000

Out of nowhere, a bright light appeared in the middle of the Potter living room, causing James and Sirius to stumble backwards as it landed almost on top of them.

"The Death Eaters have struck again," the voice of Albus Dumbledore said, as the phoenix patronus hovered in front of them, "stay where you are."

The phoenix disappeared, and Sirius raised his eyes, panicked, to look at James, who had paled considerably, both knowing their thoughts were in line.

Neither of them had remembered to tell the others about the taboo.

000

"Shit!" Remus squawked, grabbing Lily's arm and pulling her to the side, just in time, as another part of the building collapsed. Jets of spells flew over their heads as they ducked and weaved through the screaming people, attempting to make their way to the end of the street. They had started running the second the sounds of apparation had reached their ears, and the muggle screams echoed behind them as they willed their protesting muscles to keep running. Lily wiped her hand across her face, turning her head back as she heard a loud cry. The young toddler from the coffee shop was lying on the floor underneath a crumpled heap. Lily felt her stomach turn as she realized it was his dead mother. She made to head back towards them, reaching her hand into her pocket to grab her wand, but Remus pulled her away as the rest of the building collapsed on top of them, and the toddler's cries were no more.

Lily froze, tears streaming down her face as her eyes desperately scanned the heap of rubble, looking for some sign of movement, some sign of life, some sign of anything. Remus was stood next to her, his face frozen in shock and pain as he stared at the place the toddler had been.

"Where's Peter?" she whimpered, holding onto Remus' hand as her head whipped from side to side, "Remus, Remus where is he?" Remus grabbed her hand and pulled her behind a fallen piece of wall, hiding her from the Death Eaters as he leaned back around, his alarmed eyes desperately scanning the scene for his friend.

"Wormtail! Wormtail! _Peter_!" he bellowed, his entire frame starting to shake his eyes desperately settling on each blonde head, looking for the one that belonged to his friend. Tears started to prickle at his eyes as he attempted to push away the thoughts forming in his head; that Peter had been by the toddler, that Peter hadn't made it, that Peter had died without knowing that Remus forgave him, that Remus would miss him, that he was Remus' best friend.

Just then, Lily let out a relieved cry, and Remus followed her gaze to see an unusually large grey rat scurrying over to them from across the street. The rat finally reached them, and in an instant his blonde, slightly overweight, watery-eyed friend was crouched next to them, blood streaming down from his temple, his bottom lip split, and a large bruise on the side of his face. Remus let out a relieved whine and threw his arms around Peter, who blinked, bewildered, before hugging his friend back.

"Where _the fuck_ did you go?" Remus shouted in his ear, his voice hoarse with unshed tears and anger, and Peter simply squeezed a little harder.

"I got separated when that big guy fired the curse at the building," he said, before pushing his friend off him and smiling at Remus' furious face, "didn't know you cared so much, Moony."

"Shut up you idiot, of course I fucking care," Remus near-shouted over the screams and bangs from behind them, shaking his friends shoulders aggressively, and a genuine smile spread across the blonde man's face, before he pulled Remus into another quick hug.

"This is lovely, and all," Lily said, ducking behind the concrete once more as a particularly loud shriek of pain sounded, and another jet of spell flew above their heads. Her eyes darted towards the street corner, measuring the distance and wondering if they would be able to make it over there to apparated without getting caught, as the wand sparks got closer, "But maybe we should find a way to get the fuck out of here."

"I think the Death Eaters put up an anti-Apparation charm," Peter said, and Remus turned his bewildered eyes to his friend, "Some others came to help and when they tried to Disapparate, nothing happened, and…they got hit," he said, his voice shaking slightly at the memory. Lily whimpered, before reaching out and grabbing Peter's hand.

"We'll have to go the muggle way," she said, nodding towards the street corner, and Remus swore, before grabbing onto Lily's hand, pushing them off the floor as they sprinted as fast as they could around the corner, attempting to outrun the curses being thrown at them.

000

"They're not _answering_!" James cried, shaking the mirror as hard as he could, as if it were broken and shaking it would make the others' faces appear, "Remus! Peter! REMUS!"

"Give it here," Sirius said desperately, grabbing the mirror and speaking his friends' names frantically into hit, his eyes darting around his own reflection staring back at him. Euphemia was lying very still on the sofa, her eyes closed, her lips moving silently as she prayed. Fleamont was pacing back and forth, having sent many patronuses to various senior members of the Ministry and Order, wanting any information on the attack that he could get. Euphemia's eyes snapped open, and she followed her sons' movements as the energy and fight seemed to drain out of him, his face screwed up with worry, his eyes closing in fear.

James collapsed onto the sofa, holding his head in his hands as he attempted to calm his thumping heart. Lily would be fine, she would be back here any moment, and he'd be able to hold her, tell her she was never going on one of these missions without him ever again. _She'll be fine_ , he thought desperately to himself, letting the traitorous tears slide down his cheeks. This was exactly what he had been afraid of, exactly why he hadn't wanted her to be a part of this journey. _She_ was perfectly capable, but _he_ _wasn't_ strong enough to risk her.

"What if-"

"Shut up," Sirius growled, cutting James off, and James looked up to see his own fear mirrored in his best friends' expression, his own guilt hidden in the depths of Sirius' gray eyes, disguised underneath endless layers of irrational anger, "They'll be _fine._ "

"How do you know?" James asked in a small voice, ignoring his parents' worried eyes as they flickered to his face, focusing on Sirius' pained expression. Sirius closed his eyes, clenching his fists so tightly that he drew blood from the crescent shaped marks his nails formed on his palms. Nobody spoke, nobody moved, nobody breathed.

 _CRACK._

James' head whipped in the direction of the front door, but Sirius was already on his feet, sprinting towards the sound, and James got to his own, running as hard as he could, praying that they would be there, that _she_ would be there. Sirius pulled the door open aggressively, the wood slamming into the wall beside it.

There, on the gravel leading up to the Potter mansion, crumpled into trembling heaps on the floor, were three people; Remus, Peter and Lily, still completely disguised, gasping as they attempted to catch their breath and steady their thrumming hearts.

James was frozen for half la second, before he launched himself at Lily, placing his arms under her and hauling her to her feet, before crushing her in a desperate hug. He felt her slim arms wrap around his waist, and felt the chest of his t-shirt dampen with her terrified tears, and closed his eyes, breathing in her scent, burying his face into the top of her head.

"What happened?" Sirius croaked, crouching on the floor by Remus and Peter, his worried eyes flickering between his two friends, making a mental inventory of his friends' various injuries, stopping for a moment on the blood at Peter's temple and the blue swollen mess that was Remus' ankle, "What happened?" he repeated, wiping away the tears on his face.

"Death Eaters," Lily managed, pulling her face out of James' chest, and wiping away the tears on her face. The liquid only smeared further the soot and dried blood covering one side of her face, and her eyes were still the colour of honey, her hair was still black and her face was lined with wrinkles it shouldn't have had for years, but James had never seen anything as beautiful as she looked in that moment, "We don't know how it happened, we were just walking down the street and suddenly they were everywhere, over thirty of them," she coughed then, and James put his arm around her waist, supporting her as she leaned into him, "they put up an anti-apparation charm so we just, we had to run," she wheezed.

James and Sirius met each others terrified gazes, before flickering to Peter as he managed to pull himself up to his feet, before reaching down to wrap one of Remus' arms over his shoulder. Sirius hurriedly got to Remus' other side, mimicking Peter's action, and the two of them supported Remus to his full height.

"What happened to your foot?" Sirius asked gently, as Remus winced as he attempted to take a step on it.

"Aggressive trip jinx, so fucking juvenile," he said bitterly, and James noticed Lily's lip twitch slightly, "Pete had to half-carry me until we could apparate safely," he said.

"He really mouthed off at the Death Eaters about the trip jinx, too," Peter sniggered, as he pulled out his wand and started to un-do Remus' disguise, before moving on to himself.

"Told them to use a real curse," Lily nodded, giggling as she let James tap at her face with his wand to bring back her features, "I wonder why they showed up."

"Someone must have said You-Know-Who's name," Sirius grumbled, and Peter's eyes widened, terrified, "they apparently set up a taboo on it."

"So we can't say it anymore?" Peter asked, his voice shaking, terrified, "This was my fault?" he squeaked, and Lily shook her head sternly..

"No, you didn't know," she said forcefully, as Peter looked down at Remus' ankle and across the cuts on her face, and started to shake, "This was _not_ your fault."

"She's right," Sirius sighed, "we forgot to tell you."

" _You knew_?" Remus squawked, "Just _decided_ not to-"

"That's enough," James said, "Nobody did anything on purpose, let's just…fuck, let's just get you guys cleaned up," he sighed, pointing his wand at Remus and levitating him.

"Oh thanks, not like this is fucking humiliating or anything," Remus grumbled, crossing his arms irritably as a smirking James lead him into the house, where Fleamont and Euphemia were ready to heal them, no questions asked.

000

"We should have stayed," Lily whispered into the darkness that night, feeling James tense behind her, his arm wrapping more securely around her, "We could have helped."

"You did the right thing," he mumbled back, nuzzling his face into her still-wet hair, "no good would have come from you three getting yourselves hurt. We're the only ones who can end this."

"You didn't see it," she whimpered back, blinking her emerald eyes quickly, as tears slid across her face, down onto the pillow, "it was…it was _horrible_ James, truly _awful._ People kept screaming and dying, and there was this little boy-"

"Lily," James said gently, as she trailed off, her small frame shaking as she went to pieces in his arms. He turned her around and wrapped his arms securely around her, letting her cry into his neck, holding her so tight that the sobs shook his own body as well. There was nothing he could do to make her feel better, nothing any of them could do about how helpless and guilty they all felt.

All they could do was be there for each other, and as her sobs subsided and she drifted to sleep, they both felt at peace; a calm in the middle of a raging storm.

* * *

 **So it's been a while. My sincerest apologies.**

 **A lot has happened in my life in the last year, huge trauma and moving to LONDON by myself included. I can't promise regular updates because life is really starting to take off now (I'm going to be a LAWYER in a month!), but the Cursed Child coming out really brought me back home to Hogwarts, and I couldn't help but continue this.**

 **If you're still reading, thank you for continuing to check and for somehow managing to support me despite the LONG break!**

 **Lots of love,**

 **t.t xx**


	6. Striking the Balance

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, its characters, creations or universe; all I own is this storyline.**

* * *

"How's your ankle?" Peter asked, walking past Remus' sickbed on his way to the kitchen in Sirius' small flat.

"Fine," Remus grumbled, aggressively turning a page in one of the defensive magic books he had borrowed from Hogwarts. Simple healing spells had never worked quite as quickly on his body, given his condition, and his ankle was still sore to walk on two days later. Fleamont had instructed him to elevate it as much as possible.

It was just Remus' luck that he was stuck under the same roof as Lily and Sirius, both of whom had been overbearingly attentive and stern regarding his recovery.

The front door opened, and Remus looked up to see James and Lily entering, having just returned from visiting the Potters once more.

"Hey Moony, how's the ankle?" James asked, walking past Remus to store some Treacle Tart his mother had sent back with them in the kitchen, ruffling the sandy haired boys' head as he walked past. Remus swatted at his hand, too slow as always as James had already moved away, before huffing irritably.

"Fine," he grumbled once more, and James threw an amused smirk at Lily, who rolled her eyes before heading over and seating herself on the bed next to Remus' feet. She flipped over the blanket and Remus squawked, throwing her a disgusted look, "Do you _mind_?"

"No," she said simply, throwing Remus a quick wink, before prodding at the injured area with her wand. Remus huffed once more as he heard James snicker from the kitchen.

"I'm fucking _fine,_ Lily," Remus groaned, twitching his foot away from her as she continued to examine it, "it's just a banged up ankle, I can sodding walk on it."

"Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?" Lily tutted, and Remus glared as James leaned against the kitchen doorway, stuffing his face with a chocolate frog as he watched on in amusement, "I'm sure you're very capable of walking, Remus, but you and I both know having you in tip-top shape is what's best for all of us."

"That's mighty selfish of you, Evans," Peter called from the kitchen, and Remus huffed as Lily grinned at him.

"Figures that even _my_ _health_ would be about you," Remus grumbled in agreement, and Lily pat his knee condescendingly, earning her yet another scowl.

"Behave yourself," she said sternly, her emerald eyes settling on Remus' stubborn ones, "It's just a few days, honestly I don't understand what you have to complain about. You can just sit here and read!" She finished with a mischievous smile and a flick of her long red hair over her shoulder. Remus watched in reluctant amusement as James' eyes zeroed in on the newly exposed skin of her neck.

"Yes _mum_ ," Remus sneered, and Lily rolled her eyes as James sniggered, offering Peter a chocolate frog as he leaned against the other side of the doorframe.

"Did you have your potion?" Lily asked, and Remus narrowed his eyes at her. She narrowed hers right back, "Remus, _did you_ -"

"I'm not a _child_ Lily of course I had my bloody fucking potion," Remus groaned, all but slamming his hands petulantly on the mattress, dropping his head back in frustration as Peter snorted in amusement.

"Moony!" Sirius called happily, walking out from his bedroom. He dumped another Horcrux book down on the ever-growing pile next to Remus, "some more research for you to do while you sit around like a lump. How's your ankle?"

"IT'S FUCKING FINE!" Remus exploded, and the other four burst into laughter, "Stop _asking_ if it's fine!"

"Well then, there's really no excuse for you not having read more books," Sirius said, nodding towards the pile, and Remus glared up at him as James and Peter snickered.

"Lily, do you see what I put up with?" Remus sniffed, turning to face her, receiving only a quirked brow in response.

"Which one of you just threw a tantrum?" she challenged, her emerald eyes twinkling in amusement at the look of indignation that plastered itself across Remus' face. The other boys beamed angelically at Remus.

"You've been _tainted_ ," Remus grumbled at Lily, who rolled her eyes, hiding his foot underneath the blanket again.

"You're welcome," James sniggered, throwing a chocolate frog over Remus' head to Sirius, who caught it before it could hit him in the face.

"Oh shut up," Lily chuckled, leaning over the side of Remus' bed to grab one of the other Horcrux books that she'd been reading before, "Find anything while we were gone?" she asked.

"Unfortunately not," he said, "everything in here seems to require a lot more skill than I think any of us have, combined," he said, and Sirius guffawed.

"Speak for yourself, mate. I'm filled to the brim with skill," he said, swiping the book out of Remus' hands, ignoring his friends' protests.

"Filled to the _brim_ , he is," Lily said, smirking at Remus, who smirked back before grabbing the book Sirius had just thrown down on the pile for him to read.

After the day at the orphanage, they had decided to lay low, giving Remus time to heal, and them all a brief period of peace before they had to face the chaos again. Lily had spent the past two days riddled with guilt, replaying the image of the toddler underneath his mother over and over again, unable to sleep, until James had had to stun her so she would sleep it off. Even now, if any of the boys looked closely, he could see a flash of a shadow cross her eyes when she was transported back to the moment. Peter had been jumpy, squeaking at every small noise, while James and Sirius had hovered over the rest of them, attempting to be helpful but with no idea how to help, all the while muttering that they would never be left behind again.

Remus had been watching James particularly closely over the past two days, and noticed an infinitesimal shift in his interactions with Lily. While James' love for Lily had never been something Remus had doubted, watching the boy put her needs ahead of his time and time again had been humbling. When he'd asked James about it, in the few hours James had managed to get Lily to pass out, his usually snickering best mate had sent a humorless smile his way, shrugged, and left the room.

"Right I'm going to change out of this stupid skirt," Lily said, standing up and straightening the aforementioned piece of clothing, "let me know if you find anything while I'm gone."

"How long is this changing going to take?" Sirius snickered. Lily ignored him, and winked at James, before heading over to the room.

"I think she needs some help," James said, grinning wolfishly as he shoved the rest of his fourth chocolate frog into his mouth and eagerly made his way across the room, leaping over Remus' bed in his attempt to get to the other side of the flat faster. Remus rolled his eyes and cast a Silencing charm, but felt his lips turn up at the corners nonetheless as Sirius and Peter sniggered.

* * *

 _Knock. Knock. Knock._

"Who the fuck is it?" James grumbled none too politely, rolling over away from the sound, and right on top of his snoozing girlfriend, who awoke with a squeak and slapped at his shoulder.

"Get _off_ me you buffoon, you're crushing me," she whined, but James only grinned and let more of his weight rest on her, not even registering the next set of knocks as his mind took a naughtier turn, "Arse," she grumbled. He sniggered, "May I ask why you've assaulted my person?"

"You may," James conceded as he buried his face into her neck.

"James," came Lily's warning tone, as he started to happily nibble, suck and lave.

"Lily."

"I'm asleep."

"So was I."

"I'm asleep _now_."

"Quite the astounding sleep talker, aren't you? Incredibly coherent," he chuckled throatily, moving lower onto her collarbone, and Lily groaned.

" _How_ are you randy? I swear you just woke up," Lily grumbled, slapping the top of her boyfriends head playfully as he nipped his way down towards the edge of her- _his_ \- t-shirt, with every intention of removing the stupid cotton barrier and spending some quality time with his holy land.

"I don't see youtrying to stop me."

"Well, it's dark in here," she sniffed, and James let out a bark of laughter before lifting himself up, so he was hovering just above her face. She'd finally opened those beautiful eyes of hers, and was looking up at him with mingled exasperation and annoyance, but there was that familiar twinkle of mischief in her eyes. Neither one of them registered the renewed knocking.

"I just want to spend some quality time with you," James said sweetly, and Lily rolled her eyes, but brought a leg up to wrap around his waist nonetheless, holding him in place. James smirked at the gesture, and ground himself into her, swallowing her whimper with his mouth.

"Haven't you had enough quality time today?" she mumbled around his lips, and he smirked.

"There's never enough quality time in the world." Lily laughed, tangling her fingers in his hair and pulling him closer, smashing their mouths together harder, effectively putting a stop to any more stupid words.

 _Knock. Knock. Knock._

"Ignore," they murmured simultaneously, causing them both to grin against each others' lips

 _Knock. Knock. Knock._

 _KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK._

"Maybe it's important," James whispered. Lily moaned at the loss of his lips and shook her head, wrapping her arm more securely around his neck and pulling him back down to her.

"No," she pouted, and James grinned, leaning in to kiss her again.

"Lily."

"Quality time is important," she said imploringly, and James chuckled, kissing her softly before pulling away. She moaned miserably at this and dropped her leg in defeat, crossing her arms and staring angrily at the ceiling, "First you wake me up and seduce me, then you refuse to have sex with me?"

"Not sure refuse is the right word choice here," James chuckled, leaning over the side of the bed to grab his dressing gown and throw it around himself as the knocking sounded again, louder than before, accompanied now by irritable muttering.

"How about disappoint? Mislead? _Betray_?"

" _Betray_?" James sniggered, swatting at Lily with his abandoned pillow as he got to his feet, slamming his glasses on his face and ruffling at his hair as he looked down amusedly at the absurdly beautiful, half-naked, girl in his bed, "My, that's a tad dramatic. Here I thought you'd accuse me of rejection."

Lily gaped as he winked, "You little shit. You _rejected_ me. I am _awash_ with devastation."

"Didn't realize I held such a strong sexual power over you."

"You _don't_."

James was grinning widely as he reached for the bedroom door.

"Merlin's saggy left _ball sack_ I've been out here knocking for fucking _eons_."

"Please come in, Sirius," Lily grumbled, pulling the duvet higher to better cover herself as the still-grinning James turned to let Sirius into the room. Their visitor took one look at Lily's irritated expression, smirked, and threw himself down on the bed next to her.

"No need to be sexually frustrated Lillian, I'm here now," he wagged his eyebrows at her, gray eyes wide with amusement, and Lily shoved him away from her, rolling over and curling into a ball.

"Get out of my sight, both of you," came her muffled voice, and the two exchanged grins, "Why are you even here? There better have been some sort of emergency."

"My need to spend some quality time with you two is ever urgent," Sirius said, and James sniggered loudly as the back of Lily's neck turned scarlet. Sirius must have noticed he was missing something, for he rolled his eyes and ruffled Lily's hair, "What's that, some sort of euphemism?"

"You'll never know," James winked, and Sirius rolled his eyes at his best mate's antics as James leaned against the doorway, "What do you want?"

"Got a message while you two were romping in here this afternoon that there's another Order meeting happening later tonight," Sirius said, and Lily huffed, pushing herself into a seated position and sticking Sirius with a disgusted look.

"We do not _romp_."

"Call it what you will," Sirius scoffed, waving an errant hand as James smirked at Lily's affronted expression, "Romp, tango, bounce, I don't give a fuck."

"Why would anyone ever call it _bounc_ -"

"And I thought _Prongs_ had the one track mind in the relationship," Sirius sniggered as Lily aggressively pushed some hair out of her face, a sure sign that a classic Evans tirade was about to commence, "In case you missed it, my dear, I said there was going to be an Order meeting later-"

"Yes I _heard_ you, thank you very much. I just had to focus on the more pressing issue," she said, and Sirius smirked.

"Like your sexual habits with Prongs?"

"Like what you _call_ my sexual habits," she shot back, and James guffawed, ruffling his hair as Sirius continued to look at Lily with unbridled amusement displayed on his handsome features.

"You've really come out of your shell, Evans, a year ago you used to cross your legs like a nun if I even _mentioned_ -"

"Get _out_ ," Lily near-screamed, shoving repeatedly at a now sniggering Sirius, "You disgusting _dog_ , honestly what did I ever do to deserve you?"

"How romantic, Evans, you feel _rewarded_ at my very _presence_ in your life-"

" _James_ ," Lily whined, covering her face, as she finally managed to push Sirius onto the floor, only to have him continue to cackle like a madman while rolling around next to the bed. James merely snickered, kicking his mate's sniggering form on the floor as he climbed back onto the bed, "Make it stop."

"We could just start the mambo and I'm sure he'll leave," James reasoned, and Lily shot him a disgusted look as he wagged his eyebrows at her mischievously. Sirius' cackling renewed from where he lay on the floor, and Lily crossed her arms, eyes narrowing at her boyfriend.

"I will _never_ do the mambo with you," Lily huffed, turning her face away from him, and James smirked.

"How about the cha-cha?"

"James"

"It's much faster."

" _James"_

* * *

"Do you think I'm dressed okay?"

"I can honestly say I don't think anyone will give a shit."

"But am I dressed okay?"

"I don't give a rats arse."

"That's not very nice. I was just asking you if I was dressed okay?"

"You look fine."

"But am I dressed-"

"I swear to god Peter, if you ask me that one more fucking time I'm going to-"

"Now now boys," James chuckled, inserting himself between Remus, who was starting to lift himself off the bed to attack the blond boy, and Peter, who was obviously enjoying himself as he smirked down at the irate werewolf, "Violence is never the answer."

"Says the guy who physically attacked me for throwing water at him," Remus sneered, even more annoyed that James simply grinned.

"It's different, nobody was getting late when I attacked you," he replied, grinning even wider as Remus narrowed his eyes.

"James! Leave Remus alone, he's ill," Lily chastised, and Remus snorted.

"I'm not _ill_ -"

"Shut it," Lily said, turning her mildly annoyed gaze at him, "You've all been bickering for almost twenty minutes at this point and we were _supposed_ to leave five minutes ago so you're lucky I'm blaming it on the illness and not the fact that you're acting like a codgery old man," Lily said, eyes twinkling amusedly as Remus bristled at being called a codgery old man

"I am _not_ -"

"We've had this discussion before Moony, you're definitely an old man in a younger person's body," Sirius sniggered, leaning against the front door, "There's the love of literature-"

"Chocolate!" Peter chimed in

"Jazz music," James smirked.

"Those do not make me-"

"That's enough," Lily groaned exasperatedly, "Stop bothering poor old Remus, and let's just go," she added, throwing a wink at the sputtering boy.

"If you need your rest mate, you can stay here, we'll go to the meeting," James added, and Sirius' eyes zeroed in on the still bandaged ankle.

"Maybe you should just stay-"

"I will not be chained to this bed any longer," Remus huffed, crossing his arms.

"I wasn't under the impression you were chained to the bed, Moony," James gasped, clutching his heart dramatically, "How truly inhumane, treating you like an _animal_ , I don't know _how_ you manage."

"Well he is a beast," Peter added, winking seductively at Remus, who flipped him off as James smirked.

"It's very kinky as well Moony, wasn't aware I'd allowed bondage under my roof," Sirius sniffed disdainfully, and Remus groaned as his three brothers snickered around him.

"If you're done, can we go now please?" Lily huffed, unable to control the raging grin that was spreading across her face.

"Lily you cannot laugh at this mistreatment," Remus whined, "Look at what they're saying to me it's not fair."

"Wow Moony, running to Mummy much?" Peter sniggered, and Lily raised a red eyebrow at him.

"Mummy?"

"I think it's time to go!" Peter announced loudly, turning away from Lily to face the boys, clapping his hands together, and as the boys burst out laughing, the corner of Lily's mouth pulled up

* * *

"Move faster!" James hissed, prodding Remus in the back as he made his way up the stairs, "it's probably already started!"

"Don't _push_ him, James!" Lily whispered, pinching her boyfriend on the forearm as he reached to prod Remus once more, "He's going up as fast as he can."

"So bloody patronizing," Remus grumbled, not loud enough for the couple to hear, but earning a smirk from Sirius, who had the good sense to otherwise pretend he hadn't heard anything.

"Finally," James grumbled, as they made it into the foyer behind a hobbling Remus.

"There's no time," Lily hissed, grabbing James' elbow and forcing him forwards as Remus opened his mouth to no doubt begin bickering once more, "You can fight with him later, I promise, I won't even interrupt," Lily threw over her shoulder, grinning at Remus, who laughed as James squawked. Peter hurried forwards so he could hold open the door for Remus, who shot him an appreciative grin before following the couple inside.

The meeting had already begun, and they attempted to blend into the walls so that nobody would notice their late arrival.

"I can't see," Lily whispered. James, without removing his eyes from the source of the speaking, guided her so she was standing in front of him, giving view to Albus Dumbledore and a middle-aged man they didn't know in the midst of a heated discussion.

"I do _not_ see why we need to take this kind of rubbish lying down, Albus! Surely we should just mutter the name and have it out with, once and for all!"

"Elphard, I'm afraid I just cannot condone what would inevitably result in a massacre of many innocent lives," Dumbledore replied calmly, speaking as if they were simply discussing the weather.

"Whether you condone it or not isn't the issue here Albus, I could very easily just blurt out the name right now! Lives will be lost, yes, but it's for the greater good!"

"That's enough," Dumbledore near-snapped, his blue eyes flashing with anger as if the man, Elphard, had struck a nerve, "These people are not worth one more innocent life, and I will not agree to willingly offering ourselves on a silver platter. In case you have forgotten Elphard, a large number of people in this room are very young, and have never taken part in a real battle. Would you really want our forces wiped out in one night? Are you willing to risk a world in which nobody is working against these people?" he continued, returning to his calm professors voice, and raising his eyebrows at Elphard, who visilbly deflated in shame.

"That's, no, Albus, no, that's not what I was saying at all. I'm simply frustrated, I apologize," Elphard said, and Dumbledore smiled kindly at him.

"Thank fuck, that's been going on for ages," a voice whispered behind them, causing them to turn around, startled, "well don't look so bloody obvious, turn back around," Fabian whispered, flicking Sirius in the back of the head.

"Who is that?" Remus whispered back, still facing forwards to where Dumbledore was explaining to the room the details of the attack near the orphanage.

"Elphard," Gideon whispered, causing Remus to roll his eyes, and the others to stifle sniggers.

"He works in the Ministry," Fabian added, "he's been shouting about spontaneous but effective warfare since this meeting started."

"I think he grew up near where the attack happened, so he's understandably a bit sensitive," an unfamiliar voice whispered, and Lily turned to see Fabian's girlfriend from the previous meeting standing beside him. She shot Lily a friendly smile before adding, "and he does work in the Ministry, he's with the Sports department."

"Explains why he's so empty headed," Fabian whispered, and she elbowed him, causing Gideon to smirk.

"His heart's in the right place, he's just going about it wrong," Sirius murmured, and they all made little noises of agreement, as Dumbledore cleared his throat, commanding the attention of the entire room.

"I'm afraid, while I expressed my disagreement for my dear friend Elphard, he is not wrong in stating that something needs to be done to try and prevent any more attacks of this magnitude to occur," he said calmly, making eye contact with the room, "I think it would be wise of us to send out another scouting group, to follow some of the key Death Eaters, in an attempt to find out both where You-Know-Who has set up his new headquarters, and for any clue as to what the other side's next move is to be," he said calmly, and Lily winced as Sirius stood up straighter, clearly paying more attention, "I cannot stress enough the dangerous nature of this mission, if any of them discover they are being followed, the consequences will be severe."

Dumbledore's eyes scanned the room, stopping momentarily on the group at the back. Catching James' eye, he subtly shook his head. James grabbed Sirius' sleeve and upon catching his best mate's eye, shook his head once more, earning a burning look in response. As Sirius opened his mouth, no doubt to argue with James, Dumbledore continued, "Those of you who already are assigned a task will not be chosen for this group," he added, and Sirius deflated, meeting the old Headmasters eye before crossing his arms sulkily.

Slowly, a few people raised their hands, declaring that they would be willing to take the risk, including Mr. Murchison, who had lost his daughter and son-in-law in the last attack. Behind them, Gideon and Fabian's arms shot up, and Lily saw Fabian's girlfriend close her eyes, as if to stop herself from crying. Lily reached for James' hand and entwined their fingers together, thankful that he wouldn't be allowed on any dangerous mission while they were still in the hunt for Horcruxes. James squeezed back, smiling down at her briefly, as if he could read her mind.

"Thank you for your bravery," Dumbledore said, bowing his head somberly, "I wish we lived in a time when it was not necessary for any of you to risk your lives, and I am very grateful to you all," he said, meeting each of their eyes in turn.

"Alas, it is not wise for us to meet for any longer than this, so I bid you all a good night. Those of you volunteers, please approach the front and get direction from Alastor," he nodded towards the very scarred wizard near the right wall, "as to your task. Good night, and stay safe."

Fabian and Gideon started to move forwards, and the five of them parted, their hearts feeling heavy that they may never see the energetic twins once more, such was the reality of the task. Fabians girlfriend walked in the other direction, head hung low as she walked out of the front door with the rest of the departing crowd.

"We missed like the whole meeting," Sirius grumbled, and James sighed, clapping him on the back.

"We'll leave on time next time," he added, and Lily rolled her eyes, still refusing to untangle her fingers from his, "Come on Moony, Wormtail, let's go home."

As they headed towards the door, Lily slowed down as she caught sight of Alice, sitting puffy eyed towards the left side of the room. Without conscious thought, she dropped James' hand and rushed towards her, terrified of the reason why her best friends' eyes were so red and tear tracks stained her cheeks.

"Alice! Alice, darling, what's the matter?" Lily asked, her voice shaking as she tried to keep the panic from her voice. Her eyes scanned the room, and her heart rate slowed down slightly as she caught sight of Frank, talking very seriously to one of the other members.

"Oh Lily!" Alice sobbed, throwing her arms around he best friend as she sank onto the sofa next to her, "I'm so glad you're all right!"

"That's why you're crying? Alice honey, is everything okay?" Lily asked, noting vaguely that the Marauders were standing near the door, watching them with worried eyes.

"You remember that young muggle couple who moved in next door to us? They were at the market when the attacks hit," Alice sniffed, attempting to wipe her face clean. Lily sighed and grabbed a tissue from a nearby table, reaching forwards an wiping Alice's face, "It's so horrible, she didn't survive, and he escaped with barely a scrape, the poor thing has been screaming and crying so loudly next door, I just can't handle it, it's all so sad," she stuttered, "And we were there, we went to help and I just, I just feel so guilty that she didn't make it and we did, and we tried Lily, I swear we tried to help but then this big Death Eater materialized in front of us and Frank somehow managed to be quick enough to stun him. Then George showed up, that man Frank is talking to, and he told us to get out of there, and we left" she added, attempting to get her breathing under control, "But we should have stayed Lily, we shouldn't have run it was so cowardly of us." Lily sighed sadly and put her arms around Alice, letting her friend cry into her.

"It was the right thing to do," she said gently, "George was right, you live to fight another day, that battle couldn't have been won, and you're here, you can help in the next one, and the next one, and ultimately be one of a number of people who contributed to this arse's downfall," she said, and Alice nodded jerkily, wiping at her face.

"You're right, I know you're right, if we'd stayed we wouldn't have made it, but I just feel so sad for our neighbor."

"What was her name?" Lily asked gently, stroking Alice's hair, and Alice sniffed once more.

"Gwen," she sniffed, "She used to bring us brownies."

"She sounds like she was lovely," Lily smiled, and Alice nodded, wiping her eyes once more.

"I just don't know how to deal with all this death. Frank's mother keeps coming over to 'soothe'," she air quoted the word, accentuating it with an eye roll, "us, as if it's us that are the real victims here." Lily laughed, and Alice managed a watery smile in response.

"You seem very soothed to me," Lily said, and Alice snorted, causing Lily to laugh once more.

"You don't look attractive when you cry." They looked up to see the PRewett twins smirking, arms crossed identically as their eyes focused on Alice.

"Fuck off you two," Alice said, eyes narrowed as she looked from one to the other.

"We would but you're really letting down the family name here darling," Gideon said, and Alice rolled her eyes as Lily giggled.

"Attractiveness is in our blood," Fabian agreed, and Alice snorted.

"Must've missed you two."

"I beg your pardon!" "How dare you!"

Alice and Lily laughed as the two shot them affronted looks.

"You two aren't helping," Alice sniffed, glaring at the twins, who grinned widely, "volunteering for a dangerous mission, I can't decide if I'm proud or pissed."

"Proud, always proud," Fabian nodded seriously, and Gideon smirked as Alice sighed, lowering her head to Lily's shoulder once more.

"Speaking of words beginning with P, hello Potter!" Gideon said happily, slapping James on the shoulder as the boys approached, having seen that Alice was done crying.

"Hey mate," James chuckled, catching Lily's eye and quirking a brow, his eyes shooting to Alice quickly as if to ask if everything was okay. Lily smiled and nodded, before her eyes zeroed in on Sirius, who was standing to the side of Remus, poking him the back once in a while, causing the werewolf to turn around and shoot annoyed looks into the crowd. Sirius winked back at Lily, before poking Remus again.

"Great meeting wasn't it?" Fabian asked

"Oh wait, you missed it," Gideon sniggered, and James flushed, "Expected better from you lot, we did."

"Oh yes, expected eager fresh meat who would arrive on time," Fabian said

"On time? Nay, early!" Gideon gasped, and the Marauders chuckled.

"We got held up by bickering," Lily said, and the twins gasped.

" _Bickering_? Amongst _brothers_? For shame men, for shame," Fabian sniffed disdainfully, and Lily laughed as the Marauders shot him faux dirty looks.

Just then a young man with a shock of red hair approached their group, unfortunately choosing to announce himself by tapping Remus on the back.

"WHAT?" Remus bellowed, turning around irritably, causing the man to back up a few steps with a panicked expression on his face. Sirius collapsed into a fit of hilarity, falling onto the sofa next to a grinning Lily, as a sniggering James clapped Remus on the back.

"Sorry about him, he's had a bad week," Peter said smoothly, smiling at the man, who had managed to unruffled and was now rearranging his glasses.

"Arthur!" Gideon yelled, throwing his arms around the redheaded man, who grinned and hugged the boy back.

"Arthur _Weasley_?" Lily squeaked, her voice shooting up several octaves. James shot her a warning look and she gathered herself as Gideon let Arthur go, and the man turned to give Lily an inquisitive look.

"Have we met?" he asked politely, and Lily beamed at him, causing James to roll his eyes amusedly as Sirius gawked at Arthur as well.

"Arthur this is my best friend, Lily Evans," Alice said, shooting confused looks at her friend and the Marauders, all of whom were grinning at Arthur with equal, but bizarre, amounts of affection.

"How do you do?" Arthur said politely, holding his hand out to Lily, who grinned and shot out of her seat, grasping the man's hand and shaking it enthusiastically.

"Ignore me, I just get very excited when I meet fellow redheads," she said, flushing as she realized how stupid she sounded, but unable to think of a better excuse as to why she was so excited to meet this man. How could she possibly tell him in the future he was the adoptive father of her orphaned son, his eventual son-in-law?

Arthur, thankfully, laughed good-naturedly, "We're a dying breed, aren't we?"

"We really are," Lily laughed, ignoring James' amused smirk and Sirius' eye roll.

"How do you all know each other?" Remus asked politely, as Arthur acquainted himself with a very enthusiastic and excitable Sirius.

"We're related," Gideon said.

"Through marriage," Fabian added.

"Brother-in-laws," Gideon grinned, and Arthur chuckled.

"Unfortunately my perfect wife is their sister," he said, shaking hands with Remus.

"Oh, how long have you been married?" Peter asked politely, and Arthur grinned.

"Too long, if you ask me," he joked, grinning as Gideon and Fabian pretended to crack their knuckles, "Can't honestly remember if I'm honest. Must be about 10 years or so now?" he asked, turning to the twins, who snorted and shrugged.

"They've just had twins," Alice piped in, and Lily grinned widely as Sirius and James exchanged a smirk at the mention of their protégées.

"Congratulations!" she said excitedly, and Arthur grinned proudly, "How old are they now?"

"A few months, they were born in April," he replied, lighting up at the mention of his children, "Their older brothers aren't too thrilled with them, even at a few months they're mischievous little things," he chuckled shaking his head, "I can't decide if I'm excited or terrified of the thought of them becoming anything like their uncles," he added, giving Gideon and Fabian a stern look.

"Named after us and everything, they are," Fabian said, and Gideon snorted.

"They are not, they just have names beginning with the same letter," he said, "Really isn't good enough," he added, throwing a gently amused Arthur a wink.

"Well I'm sure they'd be even more of a pain if they were," Arthur said diplomatically, "I'm just grateful I got away for the night! Molly is going to be furious that I've left her alone in a house with five boys," he added, and Lily grinned.

"My, that must be a real handful," she said politely, and Arthur chuckled.

"I haven't slept in days, I could very well be imagining all of you," he said, and the others laughed, "Anyway. it's my duty, need some more redheads in the world, don't we?" he laughed, and Lily giggled.

"You can't ally with her, mate," Fabian said, shaking his head disappointedly, "she's with him," he said, jutting his chin in James' direction, earning a bark of laughter from Sirius, "means she won't be helping repopulate the redheads."

"That's none of your business!" Lily squeaked, her face bypassing red and turning a shade of maroon. James grinned as the other Marauders and the twins roared with laughter, and Alice giggled as she elbowed Lily, who was now hiding her face in her hands.

"And our jobs are successfully done," Gideon said, grinning at Lily when the laughter died down. She met his eyes with her narrowed ones and he laughed.

"Speaking of jobs," Arthur said seriously, turning a stern eye to the twins, "you two be careful."

"Oh Arthur, it's almost like you care," Fabian said, clutching at his heart. Arthurs' expression didn't shift, as he continued to look at them sternly.

"If you two hurt even a little bit of yourselves, you'll have Molly to answer to," he said, and the boys smirked, "Merlin only knows how I'm going to go back and tell her what you buffoons have done now."

"Molly knows we're free spirits," Gideon snorted.

"Yeah mate, no need to tell mummy on us," Fabian added, and Arthur sighed.

"You two better take this seriously or else you'll end up hurt, and we'll lose you."

"That's mighty selfish of you Arthur," Fabian said, and Lily smiled sympathetically as Arthur massaged the bridge of his nose.

"Be serious please. Will you two promise to be careful?" Arthur said, looking at his brothers-in-law with worried eyes, and the twins grinned identically.

"We promise," they said in unison, and Arthur visibly deflated, looking older than he had before the conversation.

"Stop by before your mission, for Molly," he said quietly, and the boys smiled sadly, nodding their heads, "I'm off, Percy is having a hard time with the new babies being around, says they're too noisy and they steal his mummy," Arthur chuckled, and the twins sniggered.

"Watch out for that one mate, seems a bit stodgy to me," Gideon sniggered, and Arthur shot him an amused look.

"Make him spend more time with Bill and Charlie playing Quidditch than reading those books," Fabian suggested, and the Marauders laughed as Lily shot him an affronted look.

"There's nothing wrong with reading, Fabian," she said haughtily, and he winked at her.

"I'd best be off, it was lovely to meet you all," Arthur said, smiling at the Marauders and Lily, who grinned back, "I hope we meet again soon."

"If nothing else we'll see you at the next meeting," Sirius said, reaching out to shake hands goodbye with Arthur, "Take care of yourself."

"Get some sleep," Peter added, and Arthur laughed, before waving and walking out of the room.

* * *

"That was amazing," Lily gushed excitedly, bouncing excitedly on the chair she was sitting on. They were back at the flat now, regaling the events of the night, seemingly unaware that it was touching two in the morning at this point, "He was amazing, he was everything I imagined him to be."

"Lily, maybe you should turn it down a little with the love for another man," Remus stage-whispered, his amused gaze focused on James, who was developing a look of irritation at Lily's continued reverence of Arthur Weasley.

"Oh James should know better than to be so ridiculous," Lily said, shooting the boy in question a pointed look. James simply chuckled, rolling his eyes at Lily while he continued to scribble on the piece of parchment laid out in front of him, "What are you writing down so attentively anyway?"

"Probably making a note of all the things you've said about Arthur," Sirius said faux-wisely, sipping on some butterbeer. James rolled his eyes, but continued to scribble on the parchment.

"Maybe it's all the annoying things we've said today," Peter suggested, and Remus snorted.

"It's probably riddled with your words then, Wormtail."

"Oi!" Peter squawked, as Sirius sniggered, "I haven't been annoying today."

"I love that he said 'today', like he's come to terms with the fact that he's annoying most days," James sniggered, and Peter shot him a sardonic look as Lily giggled.

"He was definitely annoying before the meeting," Remus said, and Peter grinned.

"That was for your benefit and it was on purpose," he said, and as Remus grumbled about how unjust life was and what he'd done to deserve this Lily peeked over at James' parchment.

"Oh that's a clever idea!" she said happily, leaning over to peck James on the cheek, "Well done you."

"Sex positions," Sirius said, and Lily shot him an annoyed look as James smirked, looking up to see his best mate looking very pleased with his quip.

"Need another sheet of parchment then," James said, and Lily whacked his arm as Sirius howled with laughter.

"What _are_ you doing?" Remus asked, from where he was once again, not chained, in his bed. Peter perked up from where he was sitting on the floor, looking towards James.

"It's a sort of plan for what we should do moving forwards," James said, scratching his chin with his quil as he continued to look down at the parchment, "when everyone was volunteering for the mission today, I felt really guilty that we weren't doing more to find these things, because they'll all die eventually if we don't find these," he added, clearing his throat as the emotion started to build. He felt a small hand enter his, and looked up to see Lily send him a kind smile

"I agree we should probably get a move on, but what the Death Eaters do is out of our control," she said gently, and James reached his hand up to tug at his hair.

"So what have you got as our next move?" Sirius asked, breaking the silence that followed. Lily sent him a grateful look as James looked back down at the parchment.

"Well I was thinking we should probably split up in our research," he said, adding the last three words as Sirius opened his mouth to no doubt argue about how being split up had not worked so well the last time, "I don't think all of us need to focus on figuring out where this cave is, instead maybe only two of us focus on that, we have someone focus on figuring out how to destroy the damn things since we don't have the sword of Gryffindor-"

"Or a basilisk tooth," Peter piped up, and James rolled his eyes as Remus held back a laugh.

"Yes, thanks for reminding me mate, I forgot," James said, voice layered in sarcasm, and Peter smirked as Sirius and Lily giggled like children, "Where was I? Oh, yeah, and we'll have the remaining two focusing on how to find the next one," he said, nodding his head as if in agreement with himself, which caused Remus to smirk.

"I hate to pop this bubble," Lily said, and the boys turned to look at her, "because it's really a very smart idea, and I think you're right we need to split up, but I start at St. Mungo's next week."

"So?" Sirius said, and Lily shrugged.

"Well then I won't be a very effective contributor will I?" she said, eyes shining slightly as she cleared her throat to stop a flux of emotion, "I just, I don't know, I don't want to hold you all back."

"Don't be ridiculous Lily," Remus said, smiling kindly for the first time in days, "it's great you're getting what you want with Mungos."

"He's right," James nodded, squeezing Lily's hand, "You go do Healer Training, and in your off time perhaps you can be the one looking up how to destroy them. I mean, it's not urgent since we haven't actually found one yet, so don't sweat," he smiled adoringly at her, and Lily couldn't control the urge to lean forward and kiss him.

"I mean, Remus was nice too, this is favoritism," Sirius snorted, and James turned to shoot him an amused look.

"Thanks mate," Remus chuckled, "I appreciate your support, but a simple thank you will suffice," he added, grinning at Lily, who shook her head in amusement.

"Thank you Remus," she said sweetly, and he chuckled.

"So I guess that leaves the rest of us to split up on finding the cave and searching for another Horcrux," James said, looking around at the other boys.

"I'd like to stay on looking for the cave, if that's okay?" Peter piped up quietly, looking around at the rest of the boys nervously, "I don't think I'll be very helpful in trying to figure out where the other Horcrux is," he said.

"No issue mate," Sirius said, to everyone's surprise, smiling at Peter.

"I think I'll stay with Wormtail on the cave search," Remus said, shooting Peter a smile, "I mean, we found went to the orphanage and all so maybe we should just stick to this Horcrux."

"Fair point," James shrugged, and Sirius groaned.

"That means I'm stuck with Mr. Welsh Accent, doesn't it?" he whined, and James sniggered as the others laughed, and Sirius shot Lily a pleading look, "save me please."

"You'll survive," she laughed, blowing him a kiss.

"That sort of raises the issue of what happens when you two start Auror Training," Peter said, looking between James and Sirius, who exchanged a guilty look.

"I hadn't even thought about that yet," Sirius said, shooting a nervous look at Remus, who was actively choosing not to participate in the conversation, as ideally he would have been in the program as well.

"We'll just have to work harder, that's all," James sighed, shaking his head, "Lily's going to have to work overtime researching Horcruxes alongside Healer Training so we'll just do the same," he said, and Lily smiled.

"I think that's really the only way about it, we can't just delay this mission to weekends only," she said, "Peter when do you start?"

"Start?" Sirius said stupidly, frowning at Lily.

"Start what?" James said, turning to frown at Peter, who had turned red. He turned to look at Remus, who grinned and nodded encouragingly.

"Er, I got offered a junior position at the Daily Prophet," he said quietly, and both James and Sirius burst into identical grins.

"Hey! Congratulations mate!" James said happily, tipping an invisible hat at the boy.

"Why didn't you tell us? I didn't know you wanted to be a writer," Sirius said, tipping his bottle at Peter before taking another swig.

"I didn't really know either to be honest, I came across the advert in the Daily Prophet in the last week of term and I mean, I was always commentating Quidditch and that's kind of like reporting, so I sent in an application. They only just got back to me a couple days ago. I didn't really tell anyone because I didn't think I'd get it," he shrugged, and Remus rolled his eyes.

"I found out because a massive owl slammed into the living room window a couple nights ago and woke us up," he said, and Peter grinned sheepishly.

"Sort of hard to keep a secret when you're sharing the same room," Peter said, and Remus smirked.

"How come you knew?" James asked Lily, who smiled.

"Remus blurted it out to me when we were planning the orphanage trip," she said, and smiled at the still blushing Peter, "So back to my original question, when do you start?"

"Not for ages," he said, shrugging his shoulders, "they only start the positions every January so I've got a nice few months free to do Horcrux stuff before that," he said, grinning at Remus, who smiled back, "looks like you're stuck with me, Moony."

"And you two start in September don't you?" Lily asked, looking at James and Sirius, who nodded.

"Mid-to-late September I think," James said, "maybe around the 20th?"

"22nd," Sirius corrected, and James rolled his eyes, causing Sirius to grin.

"Suppose we better get a move on then," Lily sighed, resting her head on James' shoulder and yawning hugely.

"I think it's time we get you to bed," James chuckled as she yawned again, burying it in his shoulder, "say goodnight Lily."

"Goodnight Lily," came her muffled voice, and James chuckled, manoeuvring her body so she stood up with him, as the others laughed.

* * *

"Move James, I'm going to be late!" Lily squeaked, almost tripping over a large stack of books as she tried to make her way out of their bedroom. James was hovering attentively in the doorway, holding a mug of coffee for the frazzled redhead, who was now frantically searching the floor for her other shoe, "I mean, the least they could do was give me a dress code, how am I supposed to know what to wear on my first day?" she near-yelled at him.

James smiled sympathetically, watching as strands of Lily's hair started to escape the messy ponytail she'd thrown it up in in her haste to get ready. Lily huffed and looked angrily at the strands now surrounding her face, "Bloody fucking layers. Never again, you hear me, don't let me get my hair cut in layers, I can't even tie it up for Merlins sake, how am I supposed to look-"

James cut her off with a quick kiss, lips turning up in the corners as he felt her relax into it, "Take a breath," he chuckled, disconnecting himself and handing her the mug, "Drink this, since you refuse to eat breakfast, you still have time. Sit down, I'll find your shoe," he added, kissing her quickly once more before gently guiding her to the bed, on which she sat, looking up at him with wide eyes.

"I'm terrified," she whispered.

"You are spectacular, Lily Evans," he said calmly, eyes scouring the floor of the room as he walked around the bed in search for her shoe, "You earned this position, now pull yourself together- oh! I found it – drink your coffee, put this shoe on," he added, waving the black flat shoe in his hand, earing a grateful smile over the mug from Lily, "grab your bag, complete with packed lunch, might I add, and get your arse to Mungos," he said, dropping the shoe on the floor, and Lily grinned up at him.

"You made me lunch?"

"There's no need to get emotional about it," James grumbled, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly as she continued to grin up at him, eyes sparkling to an almost maddening level.

"I love you James."

"Yes, well, you should, now hurry up!" he said, before wandering out of the room to grab her bag from the dining table, being sure not to wake Remus and Peter up. When he got back to the room, it was to see Lily, now fully dressed, re-tying her hair before turning to him.

"Think this is okay?" she asked once more, looking down at her plain black trousers and light blue blouse.

"I think you look marvelous," he chuckled, watching with amusement as she turned to the mirror again, now plucking a few strategic strands out of the ponytail to frame her face, "And they're going to give you healers robes to wear anyway so I don't see why you're so nervous," he added, and Lily shot him a sardonic look.

"I need to make a good first impression, James."

"And you will, you're gorgeous and intelligent and talented and you'll blow them away," he said in a matter-of-fact tone, enjoying the fact that she still flushed at his compliments, "Now off you go," he said, threading the bag through her arm and onto her shoulder, and leaning forwards to kiss her good luck, "I'll see you when I see you."

"Love you, be good," she grinned, leaning up to kiss him once more, before turning on the spot and disappearing.

"Am I too late?" Sirius whispered, pushing open the door to the bedroom, and James threw him a smile, "Fuck! I was going to give her a good luck present."

"What is it?" James chuckled, looking down at the box in Sirius' hand, and Sirius shrugged, opening the box to show James a locket, "You bought my girlfriend a necklace?"

"It's not just a necklace mate, here, open it," Sirius snorted, throwing the box to James, who caught it and opened the locket, to see, to his surprise, a small picture of Lily's parents on one side, and the Marauders on the other.

"Padfoot, wha-"

"Don't make a big deal," Sirius grumbled, avoiding eye contact with James, who was looking at him with mingled disbelief and amusement, "Thought she'd like to have that with her at work, for when she needed a pick-me-up, like, we're all here believing in her or something," he added quickly, before frowning at James, who was still staring at him open-mouthed, "Don't you dare give me grief about this."

"I won't!" James choked, looking back down at the locket, "Padfoot, she'll love this. I think it's a great present, here," he said, handing the box back to Sirius, who was completely avoiding his eye contact, "Give it to her this evening."

"Bloody fucking nutcase, I don't know what she's done to me, I've gone all soft," Sirius grumbled, and James sniggered, clapping Sirius on the shoulder.

"We've all our weaknesses mate, naturally you and I would end up with the same one."

"Fuck off Prongs," Sirius snorted, shoving his mate off him and making for the door, but not before James could see the genuine smile on Sirius' face as he made his way out of the room, locket in hand

* * *

"What the fuck is going on?" Remus grumbled, as James' bony hand continued to prod him awake, "What do you want?"

"I need your help, wake up," James continued insistently prodding at Remus, who sat up in annoyance, ready to rip James' stupid head off, to see Sirius and Peter were also groggily sat up in the living room.

"What's going on?" Peter asked, yawning hugely as he stretched his arms up above his head, "Everything okay? Where's Lily?"

"At work, dipshit," Sirius snorted, "Prongs decided we needed an emergency Marauder meeting now that she was out of the house."

"You're not breaking up with her are you? I like her," Peter said, and Remus nodded as well, feeling rather confused in this early morning half asleep state. James snorted and rolled his eyes.

"No, I'm not breaking up with her, Merlin sleep makes you lot crazy. I actually needed your help with something," he added, looking down at the floor very seriously before looking back up, "I'm going to propose to her tomorrow night."

* * *

 **It has been ages, and I am so sorry! But I promised I would continue updating and wouldn't give up on this story, and I haven't! Just took a few months for the writers block to wear off.**

 **Let me know what you think! Here's to (hopefully) speedy updates from here on out!**

 **Review please, it makes me want to keep writing!**


	7. Blood

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything Harry Potter except for this plotline**

* * *

"Welcome one, welcome all!" said a smartly dressed woman from the front of the room. Lily and the rest of the Healer trainees had been milling around at an appropriately dull welcome event that had been prepared for them in the fifth floor tearoom of St. Mungos. She nervously smoothed down her blue blouse, and looked around, glad to note that the others were similarly dressed and similarly jittery. There were only six of them, Lily noted she was one of two girls, and she didn't recognise a single person, "Congratulations on being inducted into this exclusive programme, it really is quite an achievement and you should all be very proud of yourselves," the woman smiled kindly at them, and they responded with nervous tight-lipped smiles.

"Now, to get to business," she cleared her throat, smoothening out her smart robes and fixing them with a stern look, "There is a reason this program is so exclusive. It will be challenging, it will be difficult, it will be long hours, and it will be taxing, both physically and emotionally. Some of you may well drop out before the year is complete, and I'm going to say now that there is no shame in this," she added kindly, smiling once more, "This job is not for everyone, and it makes you no less capable, but infinitely more intelligent if you recognise the job is not for you and have the good sense to leave it."

"I see you're all well dressed," she added, before grinning widely, "Which is a poor choice of attire if you ask me, you don't want your lovely clothing to get destroyed during potion mixing or wizards who discharge on you," she added, and Lily, along with a few others in the room, involuntarily wrinkled their nose, earning a good-natured laugh from the woman, "no worries, no worries, follow me, I'll direct you to the Healers' chambers, where you can all leave any things you may want to, you'll have your own locker, and where you will find your new trainee Healer robes," she said kindly, before turning on her heel and heading out. There was a lot of bustling as the trainees made to follow after her eagerly, looking around at their new place of work with renewed interest. Lily had to control herself from bouncing up and down eagerly as she took in the wards and the alcove leading to the Brewing Room near the Healers' chambers.

"There is a library next to the Brewing Room, for if you have any down time- in which you're not sleeping, of course- and want to carry out any research into your patients' cases," she added, "You'll all probably spend some time in there, as the Healers' you'll be under the supervision of will need you to do the research they are unable to," she added, and Lily let out a relieved breath. A library and potions, it was almost as if she was back in Hogwarts, around the two things she was most comfortable with. The thought brought a small smile to her face, "Here is the men's chamber," she said, gesturing to an arched doorway on her right, and this one is the ladies'," she said kindly, smiling at Lily the other girl.

"Before you enter the chambers and change into your robes, I'm to let you know right now your assigned Healer who has volunteered to train you. After you've changed into your robes, head back up to the tea room where the Healers will be waiting to meet you," she added, smiling kindly around at the group, through which a nervous energy had passed at the mention of meeting their Healer's so soon, "At four 'o' clock today, please head back to the tea room where you'll be signing your contracts and organising your identification badges. These will be ready within the hour, so before you leave today you'll officially be employed by St. Mungos, now go get ready, and good luck!"

* * *

"How's this?"

"You look ridiculous," Sirius snorted, as James twirled around for his friends in dress robes of navy blue, with his hair slicked back neatly under what could only be copious amounts of Sleakeazys Hair Potion.

"Sirius, be nice," Remus chastised, holding back a laugh as James reached up to ruffle his hair, only to pull his hand back with a grimace.

"Why? He asked," Sirius snorted, watching James with mingled disgust and amusement, "Besides she's not going to want you to look like a ponce when you propose, just look like yourself mate. I know it's shocking and all, but she did choose you when you looked like your normal self," he added, and James shot him a dirty look as Peter snorted, picking another of Bertie Botts beans from the box lying in the middle of Sirius, Remus and himself. Various books and pieces of parchment were spread on the floor between the three of them, on topics ranging from protective and destructive spells, spells to detect magic, and a hand drawn map of Gringotts.

"He's right you know," Remus said, eyeing James' hair with mild disgust, "If you're going to dress up just leave your hair normal mate."

"But that's not very fancy, the damn shit won't stay down and look tidy," James grumbled, starting to aggressively whack at the top of his head. Sirius choked on the bean he was eating, leading to an eye-rolling Remus to slap him on the back.

"Why can't you just look normal, Prongs?" Peter asked, and Remus bit the inside of his cheek to stop laughing, as Sirius shook uncontrollably beside him in response to James' dark look.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I just mean, why do you have to dress so fancy?" Peter rephrased, turning red under James' offended glare.

"Because I'm _proposing_ , I need to look good!"

"Because you looked so great when you asked her out?" Remus reminded, and James huffed, opening and closing his fists in lieu of ruffling his hair.

"It's not the same, she's going to remember this forever, I have to look presentable."

"The girls' seen you naked mate, I don't think it really matters what you wear as much as what you say," Sirius said matter-of-factly, scribbling down some more notes on detecting magic.

"You don't understand-"

"Well look at it this way," Remus reasoned, eyes zeroing in on James' revealed white socks, "does it matter to you what Lily's going to wear?"

"It's not the same," James grumbled, refusing to concede that his friend might have a point, "I'm the one who knows what's going to happen. If I don't look nice she's going to think I'm lazy."

"She already does," Sirius snickered, and James threw a pillow off Remus' bed at him. Remus rolled his eyes and turned a stern gaze at James.

"Pull yourself together. You asked, we answered, now do what you want," he said, and James continued to grumble angrily under his breath as he stomped to the bedroom.

"What's his problem?" Peter snickered, and Sirius rolled his eyes.

"He's nervous, you know how he lashes out."

"Yeah, remember the pre-Quidditch shouting?" Remus smirked, and Peter sniggered as James walked towards the bathroom. There was a loud splash, and Sirius sniggered as James walked out, hair and top half of his face sopping wet, but looking normal once more, "Poor Lily."

"Did you just dunk your head in the sink, Prongs?" Sirius asked amusedly, and James rolled his eyes, flipping off his friend before turning to face the mirror once more.

"See, I don't look orderly."

"Do you ever?" Remus said under his breath, earning a snort from Peter.

"Yes mate, but if you're not going to slick the hair on the wedding why would you do it for the proposal?" Sirius reasoned, attempting to ignore Remus, and James quirked a brow.

"Why wouldn't I slick it for the wedding?"

"Because it looks stupid," Sirius retorted bluntly.

"And the pictures will last forever," Remus added, and James huffed as his friends continued to snigger.

"You just wait, when you lot propose to people I won't be helpful at all," James muttered angrily, only causing his friends to laugh harder.

"We're so sorry Prongs," Remus drawled sarcastically, punctuating it with another eye-roll

"Yes, truly," Sirius snickered, " _Please_ help us with our fictitious proposals."

"I don't have the skill required to slick my hair back so flawlessly," Peter added, causing Sirius to guffaw and grin at James, who was now biting the inside of his cheek as if to stop himself from laughing along with them.

"Mate, why don't you just wear muggle jeans and a nice button down," Remus said, taking pity on the nervous James, who was now fiddling with the sleeve's hem on his robes, "that looks like you've made an effort and it's not too stuck up."

"I don't look stuck up!" James squawked, turning on Remus, who rolled his eyes.

"You try and be nice and you get yelled at. You don't help and you get yelled at. Where is the justice?" he asked Sirius, who sniggered and reached out to clap Remus consolingly on the shoulder.

"There's no winning mate, just let it go."

"I think I'll just wear jeans and a shirt," James said, analyzing himself once more, and Remus snorted as Sirius and Peter smirked.

"Spiffing idea mate, I don't know where you come up with this shit," Remus grumbled, and James smirked at him.

* * *

Lily was thrilled. Her supervising Healer, Healer Evelyn Crowell, might actually have been the nicest woman Lily had ever met. She'd greeted Lily with a hug rather than a handshake, and had forced a few chocolate biscuits in her before taking her on rounds of her patients. She was fair skinned, with dirty blond hair, lined with streaks of grey, which was tied up in a bun at the top of her head. Her kind brown eyes were lined with crow's feet, and laugh lines highlighted her lightly wrinkled face. So far, Lily had found out that Healer Crowell was married with three children, was in her mid-to-late forties, incredibly and maybe deceptively intelligent and sharp, and an unprejudiced pureblood. She had a gentle smile, and seemed to genuinely enjoy teaching, with Lily being her eighth trainee in a row. She had calmly explained the training structure to Lily; she was the first of Lily's 'seats', specialising in injuries and illnesses as a result of curses, and would be Lily's mentor for the duration of her training. Because of Healer Cromwell's specialization, Lily would probably be spending the majority of her first seat on the fourth floor; the spell damage floor. There were to be four seats during her training, each three months long so that the trainees would get enough exposure to different branches of medicine and healing before they chose to specialize as Junior Healers after the year of training. Lily's second seat had already been decided, as it was a mandatory seat in General Illnesses and Injuries, usually confined to the second floor for magical bugs, but occasionally wondering to the ground floor, for artifact accidents. She would be allowed to apply for her third and fourth seats a month into her first and second seats respectively.

They were heading into the "Curse Ward" as Healer Crowell called it, and Lily felt a jumble of nerves erupt in her stomach at the idea of being introduced to patients and actually being a figure of responsibility. She fingered nervously at the end of her Healer clothing, that looked exactly like the scrubs that Muggle doctors wore, which was what Lily had taken to calling them, in a pale light green colour, the colour of trainee scrubs. The Junior Healers were in shamrock green robes, following which level everyone was in robes of forest green. Lily was also thrilled with the colour choice, as green was a colour she could easily wear without clashing with her hair, which was tied up in a neat ponytail.

"My first patient is Damien," Healer Crowell explained under her breath to Lily, as she made her way to a curtained bed on the other side of the ward, "We keep the curtains drawn because it's a fairly gruesome sight, so prepare yourself. He was attacked by Fiendfyre, which has therefore burned off the majority of his skin on the upper half of his body," she said, and Lily winced, earning a sympathetic nod from Healer Crowell, "Yes, it's horrible. You'll learn very quickly that wizards never learn not to play with fire," she added, shaking her head in annoyance, "You need to prepare yourself because these burn cases are very difficult, even for me, and I've been doing this job almost twenty years. Brace yourself for the smell, and when we have to clean the wounds, feel free to excuse yourself, because it's not an easy thing to witness, especially not on your first day," she said, smiling kindly at Lily, "If you need to leave I will not hold it against you. I didn't want this to be your first case, but I suppose if you're going to dive in you might as well do it head first," she added with a wink, and Lily shot her a nervous smile, before Healer Cromwell pulled aside the drapes, closing them behind her and Lily.

She hadn't been wrong, the sight was terrifying. Damien was barely recognizable as a human. There was a thin layer of bandaging covering the majority of his body, but because of all the blood and the sheer striking colour of his burns, they may as well have been invisible to the naked eye. All over his skin was nearly black, charred so badly that Lily couldn't see the creases that belonged near his elbows and his wrists, his arms seeming more like rotting tree roots than human arms. His skin was covered in a light layer of bandages, which had all Where his skin wasn't blackened, he was an angry pink, and with his eyes closed he almost looked like he'd been sculpted out of dried lava. The smell hit her next, and Lily fought the urge to gag at the scent of burnt flesh and blood. Healer Cromwell noticed, and stepped in front of Lily, facing her, and looking down at her kindly.

"Do this," she whispered, holding her left hand up, and curling it into a fist, with her thumb on the inside, "some people say if they do this they no longer have a gag reflex. It's stupid but it works for me," she added, and with an encouraging smile, turned away and approached the bed. Lily clenched her thumb into her fist and found it helped slightly, but didn't make the smell any less repulsive.

"Good morning Damien," Healer Cromwell said in a cheerful voice, and Lily cleared her throat, trying to push away her feelings of sadness and disgust, and pasted a welcoming smile on her face, "How are we feeling today?"

Damien opened his eyes very slowly, as if the effort of pushing back his eyelids was equivalent to lifting a very heavy weight. His eyes shot to Lily, before looking back up at Healer Cromwell, a question in his eyes.

"This is my student, Trainee Evans, she just started today," she said, shooting a kind smile at Lily, "She'll be helping me with you for the next few months."

"Hell of a first day," Damien managed to croak out, his tone fairly nasty. Lily was taken aback slightly, but distracted as Healer Cromwell merely laughed.

"No need to be rude Damien, she's only here to help."

"She's not touching me. I'm damaged enough as it is," he croaked, glaring up at Healer Cromwell, who shrugged and smiled.

"No issue Damien, I'm sure she'll just be content observing for now," she said, and Lily nodded as Damien turned his eyes on her, as if asking her to confirm this for him, "Now, I'm going to begin to clean and redress your wounds," she said. Lily saw Damien take a deep breath in, closing his eyes as if preparing himself, and clench his hands into fists, as Healer Cromwell reached forward skillfully, and peeled the bandages off of his right shoulder where she was standing, and pulled out her wand. She looked at Lily and nodded reassuringly. Lily nodded back, feel herself recoil as she saw within the burns what looked like bite marks, no doubt from the creatures created by the Fiendfyre. Healer Cromwell took a deep breath in and started murmuring spells, and Damien began to scream.

* * *

"You can do this, pull yourself together, you can do this, you can do this," James muttered to himself, taking deep breaths and wiping his sweaty palms on the legs of his jeans. He continued to stand facing the cheerful yellow house, and stared at the number 24 on the front door. He took another deep breath and raised his hand, before dropping it again out of fear, "Don't be such a ponce," he grumbled, determinedly raising his finger and pressing the doorbell.

The chimes echoed through the house, and James held his breath as he heard footsteps approach the front door. He placed a smile on his face as the door opened to reveal Lily's mother. When she realized who it was, the curious expression on her face dissolved into a welcoming grin, "James! Darling, how are you?" she said, pulling him into a motherly embrace, "It's been so long, come in, come in, are you alone? Where's Lily?" she said excitedly, moving aside and wiping her hands on the flowered apron she was wearing.

"Work," James chuckled, and she shook her head.

"I'm so scatter-brained, you know, I even knew she was starting work today," she said, clucking at herself and tapping at the side of her head, and James laughed, feeling some tension in his stomach dissolve, "What brings you here then? Glad to be rid of her?"

"If I say yes, I doubt I'll be allowed in here much longer," James chuckled, and she laughed good-naturedly, reaching up to pinch his cheek.

"You're cheeky, you are. Go sit down, you're in luck, I just took some cookies out of the oven," she said, shooing him into the living room and heading into the kitchen. James did as she asked, sitting down on the red cushioned settee in the living room, before jumping back up and pacing the room nervously, looking around at all the picture frames on the mantelpiece. He'd never paid much attention to them, given he'd always been distracted by a chattering Lily or an deceptively intimidating Mr. Evans, but now that he looked, he grinned as he saw younger, more awkward versions of Lily; dressed as a ballerina with her sister, reading a book on her bed, dressed in her Hogwarts clothes, at graduation, and to his shock, one of Lily with himself at one of the Evans' garden parties, "I've always loved that photo," Jane Evans said, scaring James slightly as he hadn't noticed her come into the room, turning to see her standing there, smiling, a plate of cookies in her hands.

"I've never seen it before," James said, heading over to the settee and sitting down, as she took a seat on the armchair perpendicular to it, "It's still so strange seeing photos that don't move."

"You saying that to me is what's strange," she said, and James laughed, reaching forwards and taking a cookie, "Now James, why are you really here? Not to spend time with an old woman, I'm sure," she said, and James laughed.

"You'll never be old," he said, grinning at her, "I swear you don't look a day over twenty"

"You're sweet," she said, smiling and tucking her blonde locks behind her ear, "A rotten liar, but still sweet." James laughed again, this time nervously, and shoved the entire cookie in his mouth in one go, not blind to her raised eyebrow, "James?"

"Where's Mr. Evans?" he said, slightly too loudly, and she smirked.

"He's not here, you can relax," she chuckled, and James grimaced, "He's very fond of you I'll have you know, he just likes to intimidate, it's his job being Lily's father and all," she added, winking, and James smiled

"I'm sure I'll do the same in his position, ma'am," he said, and she laughed.

"Since when have you started calling me ma'am? It was always mummy, as far as I remember," she chuckled, and James flushed, ruffling his hair awkwardly.

"I actually wanted to talk to you and Mr. Evans, about something," he said nervously, looking down at his shoes, not wanting to look into her curious eyes just yet.

"So speak to me, then go to his office and speak to him," she said, and James looked at her nervously, to see her blue eyes dancing with amusement, "You look awfully nervous James, I can't imagine what-"

"I want to marry Lily," he blurted out, eyes widening as he realized he'd near shouted it at her and she'd jumped slightly. She continued to stare at him with wide eyes, and James felt his stomach flutter once more with nerves. The silence was maddening, he couldn't take it any longer, "That is, if it's okay with you, I mean, she's your daughter so she's yours, not that she's a possession or anything, I mean, I know that, I just, ugh, I'm buggering this up aren't I?" James chuckled, dropping his head into his hands. He felt a gentle hand on his head, and he shot up quickly, causing her to squeak and jump once more, but maintaining a large grin on her face.

"You're not buggering anything up, but I assure you Mr. Evans will take the mickey if you stammer it out like this to him," she chuckled, and James groaned, covering his face.

"I just, I came to ask for your blessing," he said, and she quirked a brow.

"Why?"

"What do you mean why?" he asked, completely confused and forgetting how to be polite, and she smirked.

"Tell me why you want to marry my daughter."

"I mean, why wouldn't I?" he chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly and looking anywhere but her, "She's the most beautiful person I've ever seen, and I've been in love with her since we were eleven. She's funny and kind and she could very well kick my arse if she wanted to, I have no delusions about that," he chuckled, and she smiled slightly, "she calls me out on my rubbish and she tolerates my friends, even though they made it very difficult for her. She's even friends with them, which I never saw coming, I mean, Sirius isn't friends with anyone and somehow she's managed to charm him around her little finger. She's just everything to me, and I want to spend my life with her, and try to make her as happy as she's made me just by being with me," he finished, knowing his face was probably redder than the settee he was sitting on.

He was still too scared to look at her, but after a few minutes of silence, decided he should probably man up and looked up to meet her eyes, only to see hers shining with tears, "Oh! Shit, no, I mean, please don't cry, I'm sorry if I upset you, you can just say no, I swear, I won't even cry in front of you or anything, I'm sorry-"

Before he could finish she pulled him into a gentle hug, effectively shutting him up as she pulled back and wiped her eyes with the corner of her apron, "Did I do something wrong?" he asked warily, and she chuckled, meeting his nervous eyes with her own amused ones.

"No, no, not at all James, that was beautiful," she sniffed, then grinned at him, placing her palm on one of his cheeks, "it makes me so happy to know Lily will always have someone like you, who loves her so much. I think you'll make my daughter very happy James," she said, and James' eyes widened.

"You're saying _yes_?" he near squawked, his voice cracking on the last word, "what about the fact that we're only eighteen and maybe it's too soon and we just left school and-"

"And it's clear you've already thought about all these things," she said gently, smiling kindly as James continued to look mildly panicked, "I trust you both to make the right decision for you, not according to whatever rubbish society dictates. I'll have you know, Petunia got married at 19, and Mr. Evans and I got married at 18, and we've had a wonderful life with two beautiful daughters to show for it," she said, and James let out the breath he'd been holding in.

"So, I have your blessing then?" he said, and she laughed once again, standing up and pulling him in for another hug.

"Of course you do, darling," she said happily, and James beamed down at her, "nothing would make me happier. However," she said, and James froze, knowing she was going to say they couldn't get married for years or that he needed to slick back his hair, "You need to work on your pitch to Mr. Evans," she said, and James burst out laughing, nodding his head with relief.

"Will you help me?"

"Naturally," she scoffed, looking so much like Lily that James grinned even wider, "take a cookie, this is going to be rough."

* * *

Damien was still screaming. Healer Cromwell had been cleaning his wounds for almost twenty minutes now, and Lily was fighting back tears as she continued to watch Damien writhe and cry out for her to stop. She'd been in there so long she couldn't smell the flesh anymore, and she watched the circular motions with which Cromwell was cleaning, watching as the dried flakes removed and fell into the medical waste bin by the bed. Cromwell finally finished Damien's arm, and stepped back, taking a deep breath as Damien continued to whimper, tears escaping and cascading down the side of his face.

"Now you take a small rest Damien," she said gently, "we'll come back in in a few minutes to continue on the other arm," she said, and gestured for Lily to follow her as she exited the curtain. Lily followed, and looked around, completely baffled that people didn't look more bothered by the screaming, "silencing charm," Healer Cromwell said, answering Lily's unspoken question, and Lily nodded, blinking quickly so she didn't cry in front of her superior.

"How come we didn't finish it in one go?" Lily asked, her voice sounding thick with tears, and Cromwell stopped, turning and facing Lily with a kind smile.

"There's no shame in feeling like this Lily, it's not an easy thing to be a part of, especially if you're just standing there and watching," she said, and Lily nodded, blinking quickly again, "We take breaks because it's such a high level of pain for the body to withstand," she said kindly, "we give Damien a break so he can build up his strength and rest for the next time," she continued, "how about while I do this next arm, you go and read up on the spell I'm using, understand the theory and wand motions so that perhaps later on today, you can give it a try," she said. Lily's eyes widened, alarmed, and Healer Cromwell laughed.

"But Damien said-"

"Damien is a scared boy in a lot of pain," Healer Cromwell said kindly, "he's not a mean person, but lashes out because he's very vulnerable and exposed in his current state," she said, "The sooner you understand that, the easier it will be to be yourself around him. The spell is called the Recreation Spell, you will find it in the second volume of the books on healing burns in the library. Do you know where that is?" she asked.

"Yes, we were shown it on the way to the Healers chambers," she said, and Cromwell smiled, nodding gently, "when would you like me back?"

"Give yourself an hour to understand the spells, in which time I'll finish off Damien's other arm. I'll need you back to help me with Damien's torso," she said, and Lily winced, "I warn you, that will be worse than the arms, so be ready to either do the spell or hold him down," she said, and Lily nodded, "Okay Lily, I'll see you soon."

Lily, understanding her dismissal, made her way quickly down the stairs towards the library, taking deep breaths to dispel the echo of Damien's screams making their way around her head.

* * *

James stopped in front of the tall building he'd apparated in front of, looking up as it towered dauntingly over him. He took a deep breath before making his way forward, stopping short as he saw the revolving door. He'd never been in one before and felt his palms start to sweat.

"It's an obstacle course," James grumbled, taking a few steps forward and nervously regarding the door. He watched as another person walked forward confidently, placed themselves in one of the segments and continued inside the building as if it was no effort, "to get the girl all heroes have to battle something. My battle just happens to be against the Muggle world," he continued to grumble, "Lily would love this."

He took a deep breath and jumped into the segment like a madman, and attempting to stride as the other person had, only to knock into the glass divider in front of him. Rubbing his nose angrily he reached a hand out and pushed the glass, so the revolver swivelled around and let him in. He tried to ignore the Muggle security guard who was snickering at him as he held his nose and continued forwards to the lifts.

"Bloody fucking arse. I could destroy him if I wanted to, little shit, laughing at me, replace you with a Dementor I should, who'd be laughing then," he continued to mutter. He almost slipped on the smooth marble floor as he continued, trying not to picture the security guard laughing harder at his clumsiness, and stopped by the silver doors that Jane had told him were for the elevator. He continued to stand there, staring at it, deciding lifts were obviously a stupid invention because it hadn't shown up for ages and he'd been standing there, it should have some sort of sensor or something and-

"Excuse me sir? Have you pressed the button?" a voice said to James' right, and he jumped, frowning at the middle aged Muggle man.

"Button?"

"Yes, the button to call the elevator?" the Muggle was now speaking to James as if he was mentally challenged, in a slow and controlled voice, and James blanched, looking around and noticing to his left a little panel, with two circles, one with an arrow pointing up and one down.

"Oh, sorry, er, must have slipped my mind, so sorry," James garbled, quickly reaching over and pummelling the up button.

"Just the once will do it lad," the man chuckled, before waiting patiently for the elevator, an amused smile on his face. James wanted to smack that smile, as if he didn't already have enough to think about, now he was apparently stupid. How was he supposed to know about the Merlin damned button anyway? Lily's mother hadn't told him, although she probably didn't think it was a thing that needed to be told.

"Call the lift, of course you have to fucking call the lift, it doesn't just come, idiot, dickhead, useless pile of shit," James grumbled, ruffling his hair as he watched the little numbers next to the lift change from 2 to 1. At last a little 'ding' sounded, and the doors opened. James made to rush forwards and walked right into a Muggle woman, who was part of the departing crowd, who squeaked and dropped the folder she was holding. Sending thousands of curses up to Merlin and whoever else was up there laughing at him, James knelt down to help her gather her papers, ignoring her offended and annoyed look at him as she snatched them back from him, before, flushing, making his way into the lift, ignoring the still smirking Muggle man.

Wait for them to get off first, how the fuck was he supposed to know Muggle etiquette? He continued to silently seethe, before realising he'd once again forgotten to press a button. He reached forwards and hit the number fifteen, feeling unreasonably satisfied as the Merlin damned button illuminated. The smug Muggle man got off the lift on the third floor, and James grumbled to himself as he left, throwing a mocking smile over his shoulder as the doors shut on James by himself in the elevator.

"Fucking buttons, why the fuck do Muggles have them anyway, buttons, buttons, I hate buttons, no more damned buttons in my house, fucking buttons," he continued to grumble, waiting for the lift to go up at its' excruciatingly slow pace, "Merlin's balls I could walk up faster," he groaned, nervously wringing his fingers, and wiping his sweaty palms on his thighs, "first the bloody door, then the slippery floor, why do their floors have to be so fucking slippery anyway? And then the fucking lift button now the lift, this is such bullshit I should have just owled him," James grumbled, ruffling his hair as the lift pulled up to the tenth floor, eliciting another annoyed groan from James.

He and Jane had spent close to an hour preparing him to approach Mr. Evans. While the man had always been kind to him, James was under no delusions that Mr. Evans would concede and give his blessing as quickly as his wife had. He'd even memorized what he was going to say and in what order, and that he should sit straight and not fiddle with his hands or cross his arms, and keep eye contact with Mr. Evans because he didn't want to come across as unconfident or insecure. He was sure of Lily, he nodded to himself, Lily. He had to do this for Lily, because even though Lily wouldn't have asked, and probably gotten annoyed at the idea he had to ask to have her or some other archaic idea, she'd appreciate the effort. James chuckled at the image of Lily ranting about daughters not being their fathers' possessions so why should anyone have to ask. Lily's parents would appreciate it, and he needed them to like him, for Lily.

"She better fucking say yes," James grumbled, as the doors of the elevator opened (finally) to the fifteenth floor.

* * *

"So what do we do tomorrow night?" Remus asked, and Sirius quirked a brow at him. Remus was pacing (hobbling) around the flat, exercising his ankle, which no longer pained him but simply felt a bit stiff.

"Don't think we need to have anything prepared, do we?" Sirius frowned, and Remus rolled his eyes exasperatedly.

"No dipshit, but we should probably not be here, you know, give them some privacy and all," he said slowly, as if trying to explain it to a brainless child. Sirius narrowed his eyes at Remus' tone, but chose to otherwise move past it.

"I'm not letting them shag all over my house, proposal or not. It's bad enough they shag in my guest room."

"Not for shagging you insensitive prick," Remus groaned, "why is everything about shagging with you," he grumbled, and Peter snickered, "Shut it Wormtail. I just think they'll want their privacy, some time alone together, without the rest of us around to ruin it," he said, and Sirius snorted.

"So, shagging."

"NO, not _shagging_! Merlin what's the matter with you," Remus groaned, falling heavily onto his bed as Sirius smirked and Peter continued to snicker.

"I understand Moony, they need to spend time together," Peter said, and Remus reached out to slap Sirius' head, causing him to yell out.

"Oi! Uncalled for," Sirius bellowed, reaching up to shove Remus, "Fine, where do we go?"

"I was thinking of just going home to be honest," Remus said, and Sirius rolled his eyes.

"We're 'travelling' remember?" he said, putting his hands up to form quotation marks around the word traveling, and Remus groaned, dropping his head back.

"When are we back, fictitiously?" he asked, and Sirius shrugged.

"We've only been out of school for a few weeks now, think we should at least give it a month before we make our grand return," he said, and Remus rolled his eyes, rubbing at his temples.

"Then where do we go?" Peter asked, and Sirius grinned.

"The Potters place, obviously," he said, and Remus sniggered as Peter's eyes widened.

"It really is the only place we can go for free," Remus mused, "Or we could just check into the Leaky, it's easier."

"But the Potter place has excellent treacle tart," Sirius said, and Remus rolled his eyes as Peter squeaked.

"I vote Potter place," Peter said, raising his hand, and Sirius smirked at Remus.

"The Leaky is closer," Remus whined, and Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Heard of apparation, Moony? It's this thing us magical folk can do that gets you from point A to point B in a few seconds."

"No need to be a smart arse," Remus grumbled, as Sirius and Peter sniggered, "we'll go to the Potters'. Shouldn't we let them know?"

"Er, that's probably the polite thing to do, isn't it?" Sirius groaned, turning to Remus, who rolled his eyes but nodded all the same, "I'll do it," he groaned again, getting to his feet, grumbling all the while. Remus rolled his eyes at Peter, who stifled a snicker, "Get back to work."

"Fuck off Sirius, you're the one who got us off topic in the first place," Peter said, and Sirius stuck his tongue out at him.

"Yes, thank you Wormtail, we were very close to figuring out which of the places were most likely the cave place, when you started to babble about James abandoning you for old people and leaving you to do the work, or some similar rubbish, I don't know, I wasn't really listening," Remus said, rolling off the bed to smoothly land in a cross-legged position by the map of England, Muggle telephone and Muggle telephone book borrowed from Lily's parents, that James had dropped off on his way to Mr. Evans, he had in front of him.

"I don't know what you're talking about, I'm leaving, goodbye," Sirius said, turning on the spot and disappearing as Remus rolled his eyes and Peter snickered, flipping the pages in the telephone book to the next holiday location. They'd managed to narrow it down to three places in the south from the map, and were now calling them to find out if they were near the beach, and whether the children from Wools Orphanage went down to the beach often.

"Here's the number mate," Peter said, and Remus leaned over, plugging it into the Muggle telephone and placing the thing to his ear. Of the two of them, Remus was the most sensible, and the only one who had taken Muggle Studies other than James, so he had taken charge of pretending to be a Muggle.

"Hello? Hi, my name is Charles, I've just adopted a child from Wools Orphanage," he said, and laughed at something the man on the other end had said, "Yes thank you, we're very happy. I just wanted to enquire actually, my son, George mentioned he used to go to the beach with the orphanage, and I heard they used to stay at your accommodation while holidaying. Just wondering if you were near the beach? Apparently it's a fairly rocky beach. We haven't actually been able to narrow it down very far from the information he and the orphanage gave us," Remus added, throwing in a 'isn't-that-ridiculous' laugh for effect. Peter smirked as he continued to flip through a book on detecting magic.

"Splendid!" Remus said, and Peter looked up excitedly, "With various caves nearby you say? How fascinating, my wife and I love caves," he said, kicking Peter, who'd started to snigger, "Yes, I understand these may be too dangerous for a child, no bother. So glad we've finally found you! Yes, we would love to come visit soon when we can afford it, thank you so much for your cooperation," Remus said, and then groaned as the Muggle man on the other end started to talk about costs and tourist opportunities in the area. Peter sniggered at Remus' frustration, before circling the name of the destination in red.

They'd found it.

* * *

"Hello all!" Sirius announced, sauntering into the Potter living room. Euphemia looked up from the book she was reading and smiled at her adoptive son. Fleamont rolled his eyes and gestured Sirius over.

"You again," Fleamont said gruffly, and Sirius smirked at him, "any more limbs for us to repair?"

"Not today," Sirius said cheerfully, throwing himself down on the sofa, so he was sitting beside Fleamont, who sighed, resigned.

"What brings you here, darling?" Euphemia said, and Sirius grinned at her.

"Any chance Remus, Peter and I could stay here tomorrow night?" he asked, and Fleamont frowned.

"Why?"

"Fleamont!" Euphemia chastised, as Sirius grinned at him, "Sirius, of course you can all stay here whenever you like."

"Now can I ask why?" Fleamont asked, and Sirius sniggered as Euphemia shot him a mildly chastising look.

"Well we figured Lily and James wouldn't want us around tomorrow night," Sirius said, and Euphemia quirked a brow.

"Any reason in particular?" Fleamont asked again, eyebrows raised.

"Well Prongs probably should've been the one to tell you this, but since he hasn't yet I'll do it," Sirius said, and Fleamont shook his head amusedly as Euphemia grinned, "He's planning to propose to Lily tomorrow night so we thought we'd give them privacy," he said, jumping along with Fleamont as Euphemia let out a loud scream.

"Finally!" she squealed excitedly, clapping her hands daintily as Sirius clutched at his heart, trying to calm it. Fleamont smirked at Sirius, clapping him on the back sympathetically, "Oh I've been waiting for him to do it since he took the ring, oh Merlin, do you know how he's going to do it?" she asked excitedly, turning to Sirius, who smirked.

"Considering he hasn't shut up about it, yes," he said, and Euphemia clucked her tongue at him disapprovingly as Fleamont guffawed.

"Leave my son alone, he's always been a little, um-"

"Insane?" Fleamont suggested, and Sirius sniggered as Euphemia shot him an annoyed look

"Obsessive," she corrected, and Fleamont grinned, "especially when it comes to Lily. He's probably so nervous, the poor dear," she said, grinning widely as she hugged her arms around herself, "Where is he? Why isn't he here?"

"He's gone to ask Lily's parents for their blessing, or something equally as ridiculous-"

"Oh, what a sweetheart!" Euphemia exclaimed happily. Fleamont grinned, euphoric as well, very obviously proud of his son's initiative.

"Good for him," Fleamont said happily, and Sirius rolled his eyes, "poor thing, not an easy thing to do, mind you."

"Fleamont almost threw up when went to ask my parents," Euphemia stage-whispered to Sirius, who sniggered as Fleamont sputtered.

* * *

Lily steeled herself as she made the way back up to the ward, taking deep breaths to dispel the fear and focus on poor Damien. She'd decided there was no room in that ward for her to be upset, the most important thing in that room was Damien and his pain. She walked into the ward, still finding it alarming that nobody was stopping her or asking any questions about where she was going. Her new scrubs had made her day so much easier, as she could walk around without question, and nobody bothered her, knowing very well she was a trainee and unable to really help other than with basic directions. There was a notice up in the reception saying that a new group of trainees had just started, so when she walked through, patients smiled kindly at her but said nothing else.

She took another deep breath as she noticed the curtain rustle, and then walked up to it, after noticing Healer Cromwell's feet walking around behind the curtain. She timidly pushed the curtain aside, and was greeted with Healer Cromwell's welcome smile, though she didn't break her conversation with Damien. Lily steeled herself and turned to face Damien, who was looking at her angrily once more.

"Hi," she said, smiling at Damien, who scoffed and turned to glare at Healer Cromwell.

"I said no."

"I'm very aware of that Damien, and will not force you to do anything you are not comfortable with, trust me, however I believe you're judging Trainee Evans quite harshly. After all, you know nothing about her, how could she be incompetent?" she asked, and Lily bristled slightly.

Incompetent? Truly, how rude, didn't he know how difficult it was to get into this program?

"Trainee Evans, Trainee Evans, Merlin, doesn't she have a name?"

"Lily," Lily said, attempting to be kind even though she wanted to smack him for the incompetent comment, "my name is Lily."

"Congratulations," he said, and Lily rolled her eyes. She froze as she realized she'd just been terribly rude, only to see Damien was smirking at her, and even Healer Cromwell was holding back a smile, "it has a personality, how exciting."

"It is a she, and she is very well qualified, I assure you. I've seen her NEWT results myself," Healer Cromwell said, throwing Lily a wink, and Lily grinned at her, glad she hadn't been reprimanded for her inappropriate eye-roll. She'd definitely have to work on the whole 'being professional' thing.

"Oh you're one of those," Damien drawled, looking Lily up and down once more, "perhaps I'll let you train on me," he said, and Lily smiled at him.

"Thank-"

"Not so fast," he said, and Lily's smile faded, "I feel it's only fair I know a few things about you before you go on poking at me. I mean, you're a bloody child," he added, ignoring a chastising look from Healer Cromwell, "how old are you?"

"It's rude to ask a woman her age," Lily retorted, and Damien smirked at her, "but I'm 18."

"Like I said, child," he said, turning to Healer Cromwell, who laughed.

"Healers have to start somewhere, Damien dear, you can't expect us to be born in our forties with years of experience."

"And which school did you go to?" he asked, turning back to Lily, who sighed.

"Hogwarts," she said, and he snorted.

"Hogwash, more like it."

"Excuse me?" Lily asked, her lips turning up into an involuntary smile, "where did you go?"

"Durmstrang."

"That explains it," Lily said, and Damien, finally, graced her with a laugh.

"She'll do, but I swear if she hurts me she can't come in here anymore," he said, and Healer Cromwell laughed, before waving Lily over.

"You know very well it's going to hurt, but if she does something wrong then I won't let her practice on you until she's perfected it," she promised, and Damien nodded in acquiescence as Lily stood beside Healer Cromwell, "now dear, you read the book?" Lily nodded and she smiled, "Excellent, now, show me the wand motion, yes, good, smaller circles dear, yes, like that," she continued, guiding Lily's hand in the proper motion, "and you know the incantation?"

"Sana, mundum, implete-"

"There's no need to repeat it to me, if you're sure you know it. You need to be confident in your own abilities, and have the good sense to step back when you know you're unable to do something, understood?" she said, and Lily nodded, flushing with mild embarrassment, "Good, because if this isn't how we do this, I'll never learn to trust you. Now, give it a try," she said, urging Lily forwards, and positioning her on Damien's left, "We're going to do this together, because it'll be faster," she said, taking the same position on Damien's right side, "Ready Damien?" she said, and he nodded, hands clenching into fists at his sides, "Now, Lily. _Sana, mudum, implete_ -"

Lily continued to murmur the words under her breath with Healer Cromwell, who was obviously saying them at normal volume so Lily could hear and see what she was doing, and mimic it. Damien's screams had started again, at an even higher volume, and Lily's eyes glazed over in tears as she continued to do the work. She was doing it right, thankfully, and all the flakes were falling into the medical waste bin, which she had heard were charmed to summon medical waste to them. She continued to concentrate, trying to ignore Damien's screams and the way his torso was writhing as she worked on it, cleaning out the wounds by his ribs as Healer Cromwell worked closer to the abdomen. She looked up at Damien's face, and wished she hadn't, as she noticed his mouth open in agony and the tears rushing out of his eyes, which were clenched shut so tightly the skin around them wrinkled.

She looked back down at her work, and finished up the left side of his rib cage, before looking up at Healer Cromwell, who made a gesture telling Lily to stop, just as she lifted her wand, "We'll need to swap sides," she said gently, "you're doing a great job, but I'll focus on the stomach, as it is not an area with a large bone surface underneath, and requires a more delicate hand," she said, and Lily nodded jerkily, "come on dear, then you can go get some food," she said, and Lily numbly moved to the other side of the bed, as Healer Cromwell did so as well.

Lily continued to work, tears streaming down her cheeks and onto her neck as she kept moving her wand in the small circles, biting her lip tight to hold back a sob. She had spent so long dreaming about being a Healer she'd never stopped to think about how difficult it would be to see people in this kind of condition. She felt Healer Cromwell place a hand on her forearm, and looked up to meet Healer Cromwell's sympathetic yet serious gaze. The Healer nodded towards the back exit of the ward, giving her an out, and Lily mouthed a quick 'I'm sorry' before turning and running out. She collapsed on the private Healer's staircase, leaning over the bannister as the sobs wracked her body. She sunk down onto the first step and dropped her head to her knees, holding her torso as she took in deep breaths.

A tissue appeared in front of her face, and Lily sat up quickly, looking up to see the other female trainee sitting down next to her, holding the tissue out. Lily smiled gratefully and took it, wiping at her face before crumpling it into her hand and sitting up straight, taking deep breaths.

"Thanks," she said quietly into the awkward silence that had fallen upon them, and the girl smiled.

"No problem, I saw you run out looking upset and decided this was as good a time as any to make you be my friend," she said. Lily let out a surprised laugh, and sniffed once more, before turning to look at the girl.

"I would love to be your friend," Lily said, and the girl laughed.

"Thank Merlin, I got to the tea room before you this morning and almost died when I saw it was just myself and five boys," she said, and Lily giggled.

"I'd say I understood but I'm living with four right now," she added, and the girl whistled.

"Brave woman," she said, and Lily laughed, reaching her hand out.

"I'm Lily Evans," she said, and the girl grinned, reaching up and shaking her hand.

"Alma Bancroft. I'm with Healer Ackerman, the grumpy old man who smells like Droobles," she said, and Lily laughed, glad she had found someone at this place she could speak to.

"I'm with Healer Cromwell."

"The blonde? She looks friendly," Alma said, and Lily nodded, smiling.

"She is, she's too nice to be honest. I just completely messed up in there and she didn't say anything."

"Did you kill someone?" Alma said and Lily rolled her eyes.

"I'd like to think I'd be crying more if I had," she said, and Alma laughed.

"Well you redheads apparently don't have souls, so I wouldn't be surprised," she giggled, and Lily elbowed her, shaking her head amusedly as Alma continued to giggle. She was a cute little thing, Lily decided. She was a little taller than Lily, with dark wavy brown hair that reached the middle of her upper arms, big friendly brown eyes, and a slightly crooked smile. Her two front teeth were slightly larger than the rest of her teeth, but it somehow suited her, "So why were you so upset?"

Lily let out a big sigh, rubbing at her temples again, "She's got this patient whose been burnt all over his body by Fiendfyre," Lily said, and the girl grimaced, reaching up to push back her hair, "so it's really difficult because we're cleaning out and redressing the burns, and it's just hurting him so much, I couldn't really take it, I started to cry and Healer Cromwell sort of subtly sent me out of the room."

"There's no shame in that though," Alma said, smiling gently at Lily and putting a comforting hand on her shoulder, "everyone knows burn cases are really difficult, and it's literally your first ever case. At least you lasted as long as you did. I'd have just bolted the second we saw him," she said, and Lily giggled, wiping at her eyes again as they began to water.

"That's very brave of you," Lily teased, and Alma chuckled.

"At least your case is challenging," she said, shrugging her shoulders as she leaned forwards onto her knees, "our patient is in this ward today as well, as a victim of some sort of tickling charm gone wrong, and my job is literally to babysit her and see how long it takes to wear off," she said, and Lily giggled, "Yeah, you laugh now, until you're monitoring someone who laughs in your face every time you speak," she snorted, rolling her eyes, making Lily laugh harder.

"Poor you," Lily giggled, and Alma rolled her eyes, shoving at her with her shoulder.

"Don't be a pest," she said, standing up, and Lily did the same, smiling at her new friend, "want to grab lunch?" she asked.

"Er, I think I have to check with Healer Cromwell," Lily said, and Alma shrugged, shooting Lily a breezy smile as she made her way up the stairs.

"If your minder allows it, I'll be up in the tea room," Alma said, and Lily shook her head amusedly as she walked back into the ward. Healer Cromwell was just walking out of the curtain around Damien's bed, and spotting Lily, gestured for her to come over. Lily warily approached the Healer, who put her hand on Lily's shoulder and guided her back into the curtained area where Damien was now fast asleep and re-bandaged.

"You did a good job," Healer Cromwell said quietly to Lily, pointing at Damien's ribcage, which looked exactly the same as the work Healer Cromwell had done on his abdomen and arms, "really impressive work," she added, before pulling Lily out, and looking into the redheads wide, terrified eyes

"But I started to cry and I ran-"

"And I said there was no shame in needing to excuse yourself," the Healer said sternly, and Lily nodded, blinking quickly, "These cases are very difficult, probably some of the most difficult ones you'll deal with, emotionally," she said, placing her hand gently on her heart, "but you did an excellent job continuing to work through the tears," she said, and Lily chuckled, "it takes time, Lily, but you'll get there," she said, smiling.

"Thank you," Lily said, dropping her head slightly and rubbing the balls of her hands into her eyes, "the spell really wasn't all that hard to be honest," Lily said, meeting the Healer's eye, "I thought it would be more complex."

"The magic is fairly basic in these cases, you're right," Cromwell nodded, starting to walk out of the ward. Lily fell into step beside her, "the hard part about them is getting it done quickly and efficiently without succumbing to your emotions," she said, and Lily smiled guiltily, "Now, I'm sure you're hungry-"

"Not sure if I can eat to be honest," Lily chuckled, and Cromwell laughed.

"Eat something, I'll need help with the next few cases. Don't worry though," she said in response to Lily's growing alarm, "nothing as difficult as Damien. They're definitely more complicated than burns, but you'll be able to focus on the complexity of the magic rather than anything going on with the patient," she added, and Lily nodded attentively, "See you later Lily," Cromwell said, waving at her, before grabbing a passing Healer and engaging in instant conversation. Lily smiled after her and made her way up to the fifth floor. There was a small section in the back that was dedicated to staff seating, since the nature of their jobs made it that they may not have much time, they were given areas in which they'd be guaranteed seating. Alma was sitting at a table with a lunch tray, and waved as she noticed Lily. Lily grinned and grabbed a tray, filling it up with food and paying for it, before heading over to sit with her new friend.

"I see your minder let you eat," she said, and Lily rolled her eyes.

"My _minder_ , she's not my minder, I'm not in my eighties thanks," she scoffed, and Alma grinned at her.

"Mine's a free spirit, told me to stay with Gladys all day," she said, taking a sip of her own drink, "can you believe her name is Gladys? Who names their children that," she scoffed, and Lily laughed, shaking her head fondly as she took a bite of her sandwich.

"So, four boys, nothing sexual is it?" she said after a few moments of silence, and Lily choked on the sip of water she'd taken as Alma smirked at her

"Do you have no manners?" Lily laughed, and Alma grinned.

"Details please, or else I'll let my imagination run free," she said, and Lily rolled her eyes, picking up her knife and cutting her sandwich in half.

"One of them is my boyfriend, the others are just his friends," Lily said, and Alma nodded, taking a bite of her sandwich.

"How long have you been with the boyfriend?"

"Too long," Lily said, and Alma laughed.

"How romantic," she chuckled, rolling her eyes and taking another bite of her sandwich, "I haven't had a boyfriend since I left school," she said, shaking her head, "and that was over a year ago. I have to say, if I'm being honest, I love the freedom. Men are too much work, I don't have time to be constantly removing my body hair," she added, and Lily snorted, shaking her head fondly as the nerves of the day finally dissipated.

* * *

James took a deep breath as he knocked on Mr. Evans' office door. He'd checked multiple times to make sure it was the right office, asking the receptionist as well as every other person he met on his way to the office to confirm this was, in fact, Andrew Evans' office. Standing outside it now, staring at the placard, which very smartly read 'Andrew Evans', James wiped his sweaty palms on his thighs once more

This was it. He just needed to man up and ask him if he could marry his daughter. It was simple. Just a couple sentences.

Then probably an hour of intense questioning.

But he wasn't going to focus on that now.

Taking another deep breath, James lifted his fist and rapped his knuckles on the door twice…thrice…four times? How many was too many knocks? He prepared to knock again (five really seemed like one too many to him), but heard a male voice tell him to 'come in!'. Taking another deep breath, he'd really taken a lot of those today, he thought, he lifted his hand and twisted the doorknob, pushing the door open just far enough that he could stick his head in.

Mr. Evans was sitting behind a big brown desk, in a black leather chair. His greying hair was smoothly combed, his blazer was hung on the chair, and his shirt was rolled up to the forearms. When his sharp gaze met James', it softened and turned kind.

"James!" he smiled, standing up and making his way over to the door. James quickly shut it behind him, thinking it unwise to have the whole office listen to Mr. Evans shred his daughter's boyfriend, and walked over to the man, holding out his hand for a handshake, "Good to see you, m'boy. What is it you need? Can't be career advice, I'm sure, or are you looking into becoming an accountant?"

"No, not looking into a career change," James chuckled, "shocking, I know."

"Truly. Who needs magic when you have numbers?" Andrew laughed, clapping James on the shoulder and gesturing to the chair in front of his desk. He went back to his chair and took a seat, facing James, who suddenly felt like he was in trouble with a teacher. He could feel the sweat building again, and wiped his hands nervously on his thighs, before leaning back and attempting to look calm. Lily's mother had said if he appeared scared, Mr. Evans would likely pick up on the fact that something was amiss, and grill him incessantly, "now, not that I don't appreciate the visit, but what is it I can do for you?" he said, smiling at James, who cleared his throat nervously and willed his hand not to come up and play with his hair.

"Er, yeah, I wanted to ask you a question, and I'm very much hoping for a positive answer," James said, and Andrew's right eyebrow went up.

"Go ahead James. Is everything okay with Lily?" he asked, concern dripping into his voice, and James shook his head frantically.

"No, yes, I mean, yes she's absolutely fine. She's at work right now, I haven't heard from her so I figure it's going well," he said, and Andrew chuckled, nodding, and relaxing back into his chair.

"I still can't believe she's going to be a doctor, or, no, what is it you call them? Healers?"

"Yes, Healers," James nodded, and Andrew smiled, shaking his head proudly.

"You know, my father was a doctor," he said, and James smiled politely as Andrew looked down at a picture of Lily and Petunia on his desk, "Can't believe she's going to be one as well, it's like I'm surrounded," he laughed, and James chuckled.

"Yeah, not looking forward to being told off about my health habits all the time," James said sardonically, and Andrew laughed.

"It's the unfortunate consequence of having smarter people around," he said, and James laughed, nodding, "so how come you're here James? What can I do for you?"

James took a deep breath (again), and closed his eyes for a second before opening them and meeting Andrew's kind gaze, "I've come to ask for your permission and your blessing. I want to marry Lily," he said, and watched Andrew's eyes widened slightly, and his jaw clenched, "She's, well, she's my best friend and I am in love with her," he said confidently, still staring into Andrew's eyes, "I want to spend the rest of my life looking after her, and doing everything I can to make her as happy as she makes me, or at least trying to," he continued, clearing his throat nervously as Andrew still hadn't moved. He opened his mouth to continue saying wonderful things about Lily, as her mother had said to do if Andrew didn't say anything, when Andrew held up his hand, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose.

"You want to marry Lily?" he said, opening his eyes and staring James down.

"Yes," James said confidently, nodding his head.

"And you're giving me a heads up?"

"No!" James said, his panic finally breaking through, "No! I'm asking for your permission, and if it's okay with you, and for your blessing, I haven't even asked her yet," he said, and Andrew smirked.

"Does Lily know you're asking permission?"

"No she'd probably hit me or something for treating her like a belonging," James said, rolling his eyes, and Andrew's smirk widened, "she doesn't even know I'm planning it to be honest."

"Does she want to marry you?" Andrew asked, leaning back and crossing his arms, and James blinked.

"Er, I, um, I hope so? Seems like a question for her rather than for me," he said uncertainly, not blind to the way Andrew's lip twitched with amusement.

"And why?"

"Why?" James asked, frowning. Why was he asking why it was a question for Lily?

"Why do you want to marry my daughter?" Andrew prompted, and James grinned. This, he knew, he could talk about.

"Because she's everything to me," James said, eyes shining at Andrew, who was regarding him with a contemplative air, "She understands me like nobody else does, she fights with me all the time, she's not afraid to call me out on my rubbish, she's even somehow conned my mates into being her mates as well," he added, chuckling as his traitorous hand went up to ruffle his hair, "I've been in love with her since I was eleven, she's the most beautiful person in the world to me, and I honestly cannot imagine my life with anyone else," he said, looking up and meeting Andrew's eyes, surprised to see something resembling hesitant acceptance in his face.

"You're eighteen," Andrew said matter-of-factly, and James nodded.

"Yes, we are young, I know that, and we're just out of school, but we love each other, and I don't see the point in waiting when I'm this sure. There's a war happening right now, and if anything should happen, I'd like to be married to Lily, to be Lily's, if and when it does. It's tough times but we'll support each other. Financially, well, she's just started her job, I start in about a month. And, well, I come from family money, so even right now I'll be able to look after her," James added, saying the last part very quickly, "if she lets me, that is. She'll always be the one for me, I know people might say since we're only eighteen I don't know what I'll want down the line. But I know it'll always be Lily. So, will you give us your blessing?" he said, meeting Andrew's eyes again. Andrew continued to regard him seriously and silently, and James clenched his hand into a fist so it wouldn't fiddle with his hair.

After what felt like hours of silent staring, Andrew smiled.

* * *

"I return victorious!" James announced as soon as he'd appeared in Sirius' flat, only to be greeted by silence. He opened his eyes, having expected applause and jubilation, though realistically even a sarcastic 'great congrats mate' would have sufficed, to see that the room was completely empty, except for the books and parchment littering the living room floor. Grumbling angrily to himself, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his mirror, calling Sirius' name into it.

After a few moments, Sirius appeared, grinning at James, "Hello mate."

"Where the fuck are you?" James asked, none too politely, and heard someone tutting in the background.

"At your folks' place, your mum is none too happy about your language, by the way," Sirius said, grinning behind him at Euphemia. James rolled his eyes and hung up on Sirius, before turning on the spot.

"I return victorious!" he announced once more, now situated in the middle of his parents' living room. This time, thankfully, there was excitable applause (from his mother), and an eye roll and sarcastic thumbs up (from Sirius). He found himself pulled into a rough embrace, and grinned as he hugged his father back tightly.

"Congratulations son," Fleamont said happily, "how did it go? What did they say? Tell me everything!"

"Well I saw them separately because Mr. Evans was at work, they said to come see them after she says yes," he said and Fleamont grinned.

"So where exactly-"

"Stop hogging him, Fleamont!" Euphemia exclaimed, cutting him off, and eliciting a guffaw from Sirius, "James, come here and give me a hug!" Euphemia said happily, holding her arms open, and James laughed, bending over to hug his mother tightly, "oh darling, I'm so happy for you!" she sniffed, and James grinned down at her, taking the handkerchief his father pulled out and handing it to his mother, "Oh James, you're so grown up, and going to be married!"

"Think we're a bit ahead of ourselves there," Sirius sniggered, sitting down on the sofa and sending James a genuine grin, "he hasn't even asked her yet."

"Oh tosh, Sirius," Euphemia scoffed, brushing him off with a wave of her hand, "of course she'll say yes, why wouldn't she?"

"As his mother, I think you're obliged to say that," Remus sniggered, coming out of the kitchen with a tray of treacle tart, Peter following not too far behind, holding a jug of pumpkin juice, and followed by six levitating glasses.

"Congratulations Prongs!" Peter said, grinning at James as he poured pumpkin juice into the glasses, which sped towards various people as soon as they were full.

"Yeah, what he said," Remus added, throwing James a grin as well as he handed some Treacle Tart to Euphemia.

"What are you lot even doing here?" James asked, laughing at Fleamont's exasperated expression as his glass of pumpkin juice spilt all over him, and Peter apologized profusely through bouts of snickers.

"We're staying here tomorrow night," Sirius said, and James quirked a brow at him.

"Am I missing something?"

"Perhaps you've forgotten you're proposing to your lady love tomorrow," Remus snorted, handing more tart to Fleamont and slapping Sirius' probing fingers away, "but we thought it would be considerate of us to give you two some space."

"That was awful nice of you, Moony!" James said jubilantly, throwing his arms around Remus in a bear hug. Remus pushed him off, muttering under his breath about ridiculous friends and how could he even be expected to know if anything was sarcastic anymore as he continued serving tart with a small smile on his face.

"Speaking of tomorrow night," Fleamont said, nodding for James to sit, which he did next to his mother, who lovingly threaded her arm through her sons', "How are you going to go about it?" he asked, earning loud groans from the other three boys, who collapsed dramatically, to the Potters' amusement, as James' eyes twinkled, and he began to, once again, tell the story of how he was planning to propose.

* * *

"I do not photograph well," Alma grumbled, looking down at the identification badge in her hand.

"I think it looks fine," Lily chuckled, "at least you didn't forget to take your hair down, I look like a man," she grumbled, looking down at the badge unhappily, and Alma laughed.

"At least these aren't advertised," she sniggered, shoving the badge in her pocket as they made their way down to the Healers chambers to change out of their scrubs into their normal clothes, "Gladys would have a field day."

"Leave Gladys alone!" Lily giggled, shoving at Alma, who'd continued to snicker.

"Don't lecture me, little Miss red-headed-man got to work on a burned man, watch some intricate spell work, learn how to reattach a limb that's been disconnected by a curse and read about all of it. _I_ got to giggle with Gladys," she finished sourly, and Lily rolled her eyes, lips twitching up at the corners as she started to change out of her scrubs.

"Gladys sounds like a delight, I would've loved to laugh a bit more today."

"Well you can go back to your orgy and have some fun, I'll be heading home," Alma sniggered, and Lily shrieked, throwing a balled up tissue at Alma.

"Will you stop calling it an orgy! It's not, it's just me living with my _boyfriend_ and his three best mates," she giggled, shoving Alma again as she continued to laugh, "who do you live with anyway?"

"I live in a studio by myself, thanks," Alma said, grinning at Lily, "told you I liked the freedom."

"Sounds lovely," Lily sighed, shaking her head, "my place is so noisy all the time-"

"Screams of pleasure?"

"Bancroft!" Lily near shrieked, throwing her dirty clothes at the girl, who laughed loudly, "You're vile, you're filthy."

"And you're practicing your dirty talk, needs some work I'd say."

"You're impossible, I can't believe it's just the two of us stuck together," Lily chuckled, shaking her head as she re-did her ponytail, which had grown very messy over the course of the day.

"You're thrilled, don't deny it," Alma giggled, picking Lily's dirty clothes up from where they were on the bench next to her, and throwing them back at the girl in question, "weird to think we'll be the Healers one day, isn't it?" she mused, and Lily grimaced.

"If we don't drop out," she said, and Alma scoffed.

"We have to represent the women here, Evans. There will be no dropping out," she said, and Lily grinned, picking up her bag and heading out of the chambers with Alma.

"So what are your plans tonight?" she asked Alma as they made their way back towards the St. Mungos reception.

"Dinner with my mum, she wanted to celebrate my first day and all," she said, grinning, and Lily smiled.

"What about your dad?"

"Dead," Alma said bluntly. When Lily opened her mouth to apologise, Alma waved it off, "it was a long time ago, I barely remember him at this point," she sighed sadly, before turning to smile at Lily.

"And you Evans?"

"Not really sure to be honest," Lily chuckled, readjusting her bag strap, "probably a good idea to go visit my parents for a bit, but I think I'll end up doing dinner with the boys."

"Sounds like fun," Alma smiled, "I'd love to meet them sometime, they sound very, er, loud," she said, and Lily laughed

"See you tomorrow!" Lily grinned, waving at Alma, who waved back, before turning on the spot, heading home

* * *

Sirius wandered around his living room once more, muttering about messiness and disrespect for another person's space as he cleared the parchment and books off the floor. James had remained at his parents place to gossip some more about the proposal. Remus and Peter had gone out to buy some dinner. And he'd been left to clean up their mess.

He was careful to keep the piles separated properly, and was placing the pile related to the locket on Peter's bed, and the one for the cup on the dining table when, with a crack, Lily appeared in the middle of the living room, looking very worn out but with a smile on her face nonetheless.

"Sirius!" she said happily, and he grinned, turning around to catch her in a brotherly hug, "I haven't seen you all day!"

"I know, being the you you're referring to and all," Sirius chuckled, "Let me look at you," he said, pushing her back to arm's length, and Lily rolled her eyes as he pretended to scrutinize her, "yes, you definitely look more adult."

"What's that supposed to mean, you turd," Lily giggled, dropping her bag on Remus' bed and taking a seat, "Oh my god," she groaned lying back, "you have no idea how long it's been since I sat down."

"That's nice," Sirius said vaguely, earning a giggle from Lily, as he continued to clean the room, "and I meant you looked like a gainfully employed woman, it was a compliment. Who's the turd now?"

"Still you," Lily laughed, pushing herself back up so she was seated upright, "Why are you cleaning?"

"Because my mates are disgusting," he grumbled, picking up an empty wrapper. Lily grinned and waved her wand, remaking the beds and vanishing the rubbish simultaneously, "See, Lil, this is why you're my favourite," Sirius sighed, sitting down on the bed next to her.

"You're my favourite too, Sirius," she said, leaning her head on his shoulder and closing her eyes, "where's James?"

"With his parents," he said, turning to look down at her and grinning, "tired?" he chuckled, and she nodded, reaching up to cover her mouth as she yawned.

"I'm not used to being busy all day anymore, to think I used to work for days without issue during NEWTS," she chuckled, and Sirius grinned, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.

"You'll get it, Evans. Give it a few days. How was it?"

"Really good actually," she said happily, still leaning on his shoulder, "I got to do lots of Healer things. My supervisor is the loveliest woman on the planet, if it wasn't for her being so much older and my being in love with James and all, I would definitely go there," she said, and Sirius barked a laugh, shaking his head amusedly as Lily giggled, "And I made friends with the only other female trainee, so I think overall it was a successful day."

"Well done mate," Sirius chuckled, "what's her name?"

"Healer Cromwell."

"Your friend, nutcase," Sirius snorted, and Lily giggled.

"Oh, sorry. Alma Bancroft," she said, turning her head to Sirius, "Heard of her?"

"Why would I have heard of her?" he asked, baffled, and Lily shrugged.

"She's pureblood, I assumed you all knew each other," she said, and then grinned, "Also she's female and I thought you had a docket list of all the ones in the area," she sniggered, and Sirius rolled his eyes, fighting a smile as he pushed her off him.

"I can't believe you're giving me so much abuse. I even got you a present, but I suppose you don't deserve it," he huffed, crossing his arms, and Lily squealed, giggling as she got up and stood in front of Sirius.

"A present!" she said excitedly, and Sirius rolled his eyes, smirking up at her, "I'm sorry I insulted you, you're right I really don't deserve my present, but thank you for getting it for me," she said, grinning down at him, and he rolled his eyes, before pulling the box out of his pocket.

"Here," he said, shoving it into her hands, "ungrateful wretch." Lily simply giggled once more, sitting down on Peter's bed across from him.

"Are you proposing to me Sirius?" she giggled, holding up the velvet box, and Sirius rolled his eyes, smirking at her as she hit too close to what seemed like the word of the day, "I think James might be a little upset."

"I think a little would be downplaying it," Sirius sniggered, and Lily grinned, "It's not a ring, just open the damn box Evans, no need to make a big deal," he added, but Lily was ignoring him, opening up the box

She froze for a few moments as she stared down at it. It was about the size of a sickle, silver in colour, shaped like an oval with intricate filigree designs all over it, and a carving of a lily in the middle.

"It opens," Sirius drawled, rolling his eyes at how enraptured she was, lying down on Remus' bed and putting his arms behind his head as he watched her stare down at the box.

She opened the box and saw on the left, a small picture of her parents, taken on a magical camera. They were waving at her and blowing kisses. On the other side was a picture of all four of the Marauders, taken by her in their Seventh Year. Sirius was on the left, laughing, his arm around James' shoulders. James was to his right, standing in the middle, with his hand ruffling his hair, and an amused look in his eyes as he looked into the camera. Remus was beside him, smiling politely at the camera, arms crossed. Peter was to Remus' other side, smiling tentatively at the camera, eyes flickering amusedly at Sirius' loud guffawing. Lily looked back up at Sirius, with tears in her eyes.

"Oh, fuck, don't cry. What is the matter with you, you should be happy," Sirius near-squeaked, jumping to his feet, "Oh Merlin, don't cry, Prongs will kill me if he knew I made you cry."

"I'm not crying, Sirius," Lily sniffed, and Sirius quirked a dubious brow at her, "Oh shut up, I'm not sad, I suppose I should say instead. I'm happy, Sirius, this is beautiful," she sniffed again, getting up and putting her arms around his middle. She felt his arms wrap around her shoulders and squeezed him tighter.

"It's for your first day of work," Sirius said lamely, reaching one arm up to brush back his hair, "so you know we're all here supporting you, even if work sucks or someone throws up on you or something," he said, and Lily snorted, pulling back from him with an amused twinkle in her eye.

"Way to kill a nice moment, Sirius, 'someone throws up on you or something', truly, your charm truly knows no bounds," she snorted, and Sirius sniggered. She smiled widely up at him again, "Thank you Sirius."

Before Sirius could make an awkward joke and brush off her thanks, the door opened and Remus and Peter walked in, bags of food in their hands.

"Lily!" Remus grinned, putting down his bags and pulling her in for a hug, "How was your first day?"

"It was good thanks," Lily smiled, waving back at Peter, who had taken it upon himself to take all the food to the kitchen, "my supervisor is lovely, and I made a friend, so pretty much a successful day," she grinned, and Remus smiled back down at her.

"It's been very strange not having you around," he said, and Lily laughed.

"Prongs has been awash with sexual tension," Sirius confirmed, and Lily slapped his sniggering self in the arm, fighting a laugh of her own.

"That's awkward, I barely felt any," she mused, and the other two guffawed, as James walked in through the front door.

"Oh, hello!" he grinned, and Lily beamed at him, trotting over and hugging her arms around his neck, "Miss me?" he chuckled, and Lily giggled.

"She felt no sexual tension today without you," Sirius called, placing the stack of parchment that he'd left on Peter's bed on one of the shelves along the wall.

"Heart-warming, thanks," James chuckled, pulling back and grinning down at Lily, "how was it? Tell me everything!"

"It was-"

"I will not hear this a third time, talk to each other later," Sirius groaned, trouncing over to them and collapsing on Lily's shoulder, causing her to giggle.

"Okay, I'll tell him later," she chuckled, winking up at James, whose eyes twinkled down at her, "what have you been up to today?" she asked, brow furrowing as James turned red and Sirius smirked at him, "What?" she said bluntly, dropping her arms from around his neck, and he shook his head quickly.

"We spent most of the day at the Potters," Sirius said, winking at James. It wasn't technically a lie, he, Remus and Peter _had_ spent most of the day at the Potters.

"Oh that sounds lovely," Lily said, still frowning at James, "why do you look like that?"

"Like what?" he asked, laughing nervously, his voice pitched unnaturally high, causing her to frown some more.

"Like… _that_ ," she said, waving her hand in the vicinity of his face, "You're all, weird."

"She's excellent at compliments, that one," Remus sniggered, sitting himself down on one of the dining table chairs, watching the scene with unbridled amusement.

"So flattering," Sirius agreed, sniggering, and Lily rolled her eyes, turning to throw them exasperated looks.

"And to think I actually missed being around you lot a little," she snorted, and James grinned down at her.

"So you did miss me!"

"Don't flatter yourself, I was talking about them," she smirked, gesturing towards Sirius and Remus, who smirked as James rolled his eyes.

"Don't be so harsh on him Lil, he had a traumatic day," Sirius said faux-sympathetically, and Lily quirked a brow at James, who was, still red, glaring at Sirius, "his hair was slicked back with copious amounts of Sleakeazys, turns out the shape of his head isn't all that attractive," he said, and James rolled his eyes, walking into the kitchen where a lot of mumbling from Peter could be heard.

"He looked ridiculous, by the way, think we'll have to make do with that mop of his," Remus sniggered as James reappeared, throwing a chocolate frog at Remus, who caught it smoothly before it could hit him in the face.

"No wonder the poor thing's had such a traumatic day," Lily chuckled, shaking her head and making her way over to James, patting his shoulder comfortingly, "he's been stuck with you lot and your abuse," she tutted, and James pouted down at her, nodding incessantly as the other two snorted. Peter came out of the kitchen and rolled his eyes at James' antics, before making his way to the stack of parchment Sirius had just moved.

"Oh, Lily," he said, directing Lily's attention away from throwing faux glares at a very amused Sirius and Remus, "Moony and I actually made some progress today," he grinned, waving the parchment at her.

"Oh! We did!" Remus said excitedly, turning to look at James, "We haven't told you yet either, since you were busy with parents," he said, winking as James threw him a stern look.

"Ah yes, your parent day," Sirius said faux-wisely, enjoying the way James squirmed, shooting careful looks at Lily, who didn't seem to catch on to the tone of the conversation. She was instead looking eagerly at Peter.

"What happened?" she said excitedly, and Peter shrugged, looking nonchalant.

"We found out where the cave was, but you know, no big deal," he said, throwing an amused wink at Remus, who rolled his eyes, smirking as both Lily and James' jaws dropped.

"Oh my _Merlin_ , well _done_!" Lily squealed, grinning alternatively between Remus and Peter, who were looking very proud of themselves.

"Where is it?" James asked, and Lily rolled her eyes as the other two snorted.

"A little praise would be much appreciated Prongs," Remus smirked, biting the head off his chocolate frog.

"I mean, we did accomplish more than both you and Sirius today," Peter said, and Sirius sputtered.

"Why am I bring dragged into this?" he squawked, shooting offended looks between Remus and Peter, who simply smirked back at him, "Lily, don't go to work anymore, nobody else is nice to me," Sirius sniffed, crossing his arms and looking away from the rest of the boys, all three of whom snickered. Lily tutted, shaking her head, a smile on her face.

"Sorry Sirius, I think I'll stick to going to work," she said, and he pouted at her.

"Abandoner."

"Clinger," she shot back, earning a smirk.

"Lily, my love, I have never been a clinger."

"You're the one who's trying to sabotage my career because you don't want me leaving you," she grinned at him, and he rolled his, turning to shoot James a resigned look.

"Suppose I'll just make do being stuck with you," he sighed, and James sighed dramatically as well.

"We've both been abandoned mate, we'll lean on each other, we'll make it through this," he said, throwing Lily a playfully dark look.

"I'm going to change out of these stupid work clothes," Lily chuckled, shaking her head fondly as James and Sirius continued to very loudly support each other. Remus was rolling his eyes, summoning another chocolate frog. Peter was snickering as he sat on his bed, writing another letter to his mum, as he'd promised to write every week they were on 'holiday'. She made her way into the bedroom, put on James' Quidditch jersey and a pair of leggings, before collapsing on the bed, lying on her back and closing her eyes, resting after what had been a very emotionally charged and difficult day.

"All right?" a big warm hand cupped her cheek, and she opened her eyes to see James leaning over her, smiling gently down at her. She leaned up and captured his lips in a quick kiss, before lying back down.

"Yeah," she grinned, stretching her arms up above her head, "tired."

"Long day?" he asked, and she nodded, shifting over slightly so he could sit down. She pushed herself up so she was sitting next to him on the edge of the bed, and rested her head on his shoulder. James' arm instinctually wrapped around her, his palm resting on her head as his fingers gently sifted through her hair.

"I had a big emotional meltdown today," she said, and he looked down at her, quirking a brow, "this burn victim, Healer Cromwell's patient, he was in so much pain, and he was screaming as we cleaned his wounds, I just couldn't take it, especially when I was causing it," she sighed, closing her eyes, and James kissed her on top of the head.

"You were helping him, love, not hurting him."

"Unfortunately those two go hand-in-hand with burn victims," she sighed again, and James squeezed her shoulders tighter, "at least I met Alma."

"Friend?" James asked, smiling down at her, and she nodded, smiling slightly.

"She's the other female trainee. There's only two of us," Lily said, opening her eyes to look up into James', "she's almost as annoying as you are."

"She sounds smashing," he sniggered, and Lily shook her head, grinning.

"She's got Sirius' sense of humour," Lily grumbled, and James guffawed, "kept making orgy jokes about our living arrangement." James laughed again, ruffling Lily's hair lightly, and Lily giggled, burrowing her face into his shoulder some more, "Can I sleep here?"

"Kind of need my shoulder love," James chuckled, kissing her on top of the head.

"You don't let me do anything," she whined, and James chuckled again, shaking his head amusedly as she continued to giggle.

"How's this Cromwell lady?" James asked, and Lily smiled happily.

"She's super lovely James, I'm so glad she's my mentor."

"Lily's planning on eloping with her," Sirius piped up, and Lily groaned as he sauntered into the room, sitting on her other side and patting her atop the head. Lily reached up to smack his hand away, but he dodged in time, moving to pat her back annoyingly instead. Lily groaned again, poking James, who simply rolled his eyes and grinned as he watched his two favourite people banter.

"Elope, eh? At least give me a heads up, yeah?" James chuckled, and Lily rolled her eyes.

"I never said I was going to _elope_."

"Just that if she wasn't with you she'd go there," Sirius added, and Lily whacked at him again as James laughed.

"That's okay love, if you have to be with someone else I'd rather it was a woman," James said, wagging his brows, and Lily rolled her eyes, pushing herself off his shoulder and onto her feet.

"You're both incorrigible," she grumbled, leaving the room as James and Sirius continued to snicker.

"I give her a present and this is how she thanks me," she heard Sirius whine to James, and giggled as she heard James declare she was an evil banshee preying on Sirius' heart and Sirius declared war on her. She was just fastening the necklace she'd left on the dining table around her neck when Sirius and James walked into the living room, "Oh, see, now she's sucking up," Sirius said, gesturing to Lily with a laugh in his eyes, and Lily shook her head fondly, putting on her flat shoes by the door.

"I'll see you lot later," Lily said, rolling her eyes as James comforted Sirius.

"Where're you going?" Remus asked, turning away from the parchment he and Peter were scribbling on, to look up at Lily.

"I should probably go visit my parents, first day of work and all, let them know how it went," she said. James turned a bright shade of red, and threw a panicked look at Sirius, who smirked, "what's the matter with you?" Lily asked, quirking a brow at James, her hand dropping from the doorknob.

"Er, he doesn't want you to go," Sirius said intelligently, and Lily's other eyebrow raised as well, as she turned an inquisitive look at James, who was shooting an annoyed look at Sirius.

"Why?" she asked, crossing her arms. James opened and closed his mouth like a goldfish, unable to come up with a reasonable excuse, when Peter took pity on him.

"He's missed you," Peter piped in, and James threw him a grateful look, getting a wink in return. Remus continued to smirk, eyes not leaving James, who was looking more and more uncomfortable as Lily regarded him with a disbelieving look.

"Then by all means come with me," Lily said, eyes twinkling as her look turned amused, "honestly, what is the matter with you today? You're acting very odd."

"You just haven't been around him all day, you forgot he's actually always like this," Sirius said, ruffling James' hair, knowing full well James was trying to decide whether or not to kill him.

"That must be it," Lily laughed, shaking her head as James shoved Sirius off of him.

"If I'm coming can you not wear that shirt please?" James said, and Lily frowned at him, looking down at the Quidditch jersey.

"You know, they do know you're my boyfriend," Lily said, and Remus smirked once more.

"Yeah James, I think they know full well the status of your relationship with Lily," he said, smirk widening as James shot him a warning look, "maybe even better than some of us in this room," he said, eyes flickering to Lily, who didn't notice. Sirius bit the side of his cheek to stop laughing as James shot daggers at Remus with his eyes.

"I just don't want your dad to give me evils," James said, and Lily rolled her eyes, before conceding and heading into the room to change, muttering about overreactions and boyfriends being too wary of fathers, "I will kill you dead," James hissed at Remus, who simply smirked, turning back to his parchment.

"What are you scribbling anyway?" Sirius asked, sitting down next to Remus as Lily walked back into the living room, having changed into a simple top with her leggings.

"Wormtail and I decided to go inspect this place and the caves around it to see if it's the right place, before we make a move to enter the cave," Remus said, scratching his chin with the quill, "Just making a list of things we should probably take, and the list of spells we read today on detecting magic," Remus said, and Lily frowned down at the list.

"Ever thought maybe You-Know-Who put up charms to make sure those spells didn't work?" Lily asked, and Remus shot her a curious look.

"I hadn't even thought of that," he grumbled, writing down a note next to the list of spells.

"Then how are we supposed to know where it is?" Peter near-whined, and Lily shrugged.

"Suppose you'll just have to figure it out."

"I'll come with you," Sirius said, taking the quill and writing his name down at the top of the parchment.

"Er, why?" Remus asked, throwing a baffled look to Lily, who grinned.

"Well in case anything happens to one of us, there should always be two other people," Sirius said, and Remus rolled his eyes.

"You're being dramatic."

"Yeah?" Sirius smirked, raising his brows, "Sorry, but I distinctly remember it taking two people to support you when you busted your ankle," he said, and Remus grumbled as James smirked.

"He's right, plus it's good to have one person there to do any wand work required while another helps the injured person."

"Why is anyone getting injured?" Remus huffed, and James smirked

"Well, Moony, you're the liability here, you tell us," he said, and Remus rolled his eyes, muttering angrily as he turned back to his parchment, ignoring James and Sirius' snickers, and Lily's grin.

* * *

"Darling!" Jane exclaimed, pulling open the front door to reveal Lily, and a very jittery James standing behind her, shaking his head aggressively. Jane took no notice of James, grabbed Lily's hands and pulled her into the house, and James entered quickly, closing the door behind him and trying to get across to the Evans' that he had not yet proposed, so they didn't do anything too telling, "Let me look at your hand!" Jane squealed, grabbing Lily's left hand.

James' stomach dropped and he resisted the urge to slap himself on the forehead. Obviously seeing no ring, she looked back up. Before she could speak, James waved his hands to catch her attention, then began slashing his hand across his throat and shaking his head frantically.

"My hand?" Lily asked, frowning at her mother, who managed to turn her curious expression into a breezy smile.

"Hands darling, Healing hands," Jane giggled, and James almost sobbed like a baby when Lily rolled her eyes, shaking her head amusedly.

"Mum, you're nuts," Lily said exasperatedly, turning to share an amused look with James, who quickly arranged his features so he no longer looked like he could kiss Jane, and looked more like he thought she was hilarious as well.

Lily took a few steps forwards into the house, and James dropped his face into his hands, letting out a low groan, "Sorry," Jane whispered, trying very hard to fight a smile, her body shaking nonetheless with repressed laughter.

"I think I've aged," James whispered back, standing up straight and shooting her an amused smile, ruffling his hair nervously, "I can't believe she bought your excuse."

"The one advantage of having a nutty personality," Jane giggled, then her eyes widened comically as Lily greeted her father, "Andrew!"

James and Jane darted forwards quickly as Andrew got up, grinning widely at Lily, his arms out in a big congratulatory hug, "Congratulations Petal!"

James started to slash his hands against his throat again, and Jane holding up her left hand, pointing to her wedding ring, shook her head aggressively. Andrew who noticed them just in time, continued suavely, "Gainfully employed, how does it feel?"

* * *

Lily yawned hugely as she walked into St. Mungos the next morning, making her way down to the Healers chambers to change into her pale green scrubs. Her parents had held her and James captive for dinner, James having to excuse himself and pretend to use to loo so he could let the others know, lest they waited for them, and had grilled her incessantly about Mungos. James hadn't helped, asking almost as many questions as them, given Sirius had cut off his opportunities to hear about her day and her job. James had started to act weird once more when they got back to Sirius', succumbing to a lot of nervous laughter and shooting angry glares at the boys for no reason apparent to Lily. He'd barely spent any time alone with her, and had waited until she'd already fallen asleep before coming to bed. _You're being paranoid_ , Lily scolded herself, as her thoughts wandered towards ideas of James avoiding her and not wanting to be alone with her. But Merlin knew the boy had never passed up an opportunity to follow her into a bedroom.

The chamber was empty, and Lily speedily changed into her scrubs, carefully folding her normal clothes and placing them inside the locker.

"About time you got here," a muffled voice said, and Lily turned, grinning, to see Alma standing at the entrance, already in her scrubs, hair in two braids, arms laden with fruits, chewing on an apple.

"We start at 9," Lily snorted, reaching forwards and grabbing a banana from Alma's arms.

"A banana? Should have known," she said, tutting seriously, and Lily rolled her eyes, shooting Alma a sardonic smirk as the girl giggled, leading their way out of the chambers, "Bumped into Healer Cromwell by the way, she told me she'd meet you in the Curse Ward again. I've got to go bond some more with Gladys so thought we'd have a little breakfast on our walk up. How were the parents?"

"Good thanks, they asked thousands of questions. I half considered just bringing them here," Lily snorted, and Alma laughed, "how was your mum?"

"The usual," Alma snorted, taking another bite of her apple, "seemed more interested in the fact that I was single and childless than the whole Healer thing," she added, and Lily giggled, "I told her you lived with four boys, she told me to ask to be set up with one of them," she snorted, and Lily laughed harder.

"I wouldn't wish them on you," Lily said in a joking tone, and Alma sniggered, "with these boys, it's a buy one get four situation," she added, taking another bite of her banana as they made their way up the stairs, "I didn't see it coming, truly. I didn't expect to fall for James in the first place, then all of a sudden I was constantly in the presence of men," Lily snorted, and Alma sniggered.

"You must've been a very popular girl in school," she teased, and Lily rolled her eyes, "that Lily Evans, seducer extraordinaire, four boys strung along at any one time!"

"Shut your face, Alma," Lily giggled, "I doubt I'll ever have the energy to string more than one boy along, sounds exhausting."

"Yeah, imagine, having your own boyfriend and then a few mistresses," Alma snorted, then frowned at Lily, "are they mistresses if they're men? Or just misters? That doesn't sound nearly as naughty."

"I think they're just called affairs," Lily snorted, "or the other men, or something," and Alma rolled her eyes

"Fucking patriarchy. We deserve to have misters."

"I don't want a mister," Lily snorted, and Alma rolled her eyes

"I meant, we deserved to have our cheatees referred to as misters," she added, and Lily giggled.

"Cheatees," Lily continued, shaking her head as they finally made their way onto the fourth floor, "tell that one to Gladys, she'll love it."

"I'll save it for a slow minute," Alma snorted, "See you at lunch," waving at Lily, she made her way over to a curtain in the corner, where a lot of hysterical giggling was coming from. Lily shook her head amusedly, before looking around. Healer Cromwell waved to her, and Lily quickly made her way over.

"Good morning Healer Cromwell," Lily said politely, and Cromwell smiled kindly at her.

"Good morning Lily, and please, Evelyn is fine, let's not make this arrangement too formal," she smiled, then gestured for Lily to follow her, "Listen Lily, if you don't mind, I'll need you to do some paperwork today," she said, and Lily nodded.

"That's no problem Evelyn," Lily said politely, and Evelyn smiled.

"I've recorded a few of my patient observations from the people we attended to yesterday," she added, handing Lily a box of vials, filled with what looked like blue smoke, "just open a vial and you'll be able to hear my observations, be sure to guide the smoke back inside the vial after you're done, otherwise it'll evaporate and my recordings will be lost," she said, and Lily nodded, looking down curiously into the box, "question dear?"

"Er, yes, sorry Evelyn, but I'm not entirely sure what you've just handed me," Lily chuckled breathlessly, and after a beat, Evelyn laughed.

"I'm so sorry dear, it's so second nature to me at this point, didn't even occur to me that you may not know what I'm talking about," she laughed some more, before shaking her head, "those are recordings of my own voice, dictating essentially what I want written on the patient charts. If you could just open them, write down in the chart what it is I've said, and then put the recordings back in, simply by directing them with your wand, they listen very well, I would greatly appreciate it. I've got a few patients to check up on, and after lunch I'll let you know what it is we do next," she aid, and Lily smiled.

"No problem, what should I do with the vials when I'm done?" Lily asked

"Everything will be dealt with by the library staff dear, you can get the patient charts from them, as well as leave these vials with them, they'll make sure everything is sorted out. You'll be able to see what it is you need to do in the previous entries of the chart. Feel free to find me if you have any questions," Evelyn said.

"No problem, thank you," Lily said. She was about to turn away when Evelyn gasped.

"Oh! I almost forgot, Lily darling would you like to come check up on one of my special patients with me?" she asked, and Lily nodded, "It's a very interesting case, she was hit with a curse none of us had ever seen before. The leading Healer on her case, Healer Mumford, was baffled. It took hours to come up with a solid plan on saving her. She's almost fully recovered from a very nasty curse she was hit with a couple weeks ago," Evelyn explained, leading Lily out of one doorway in and through another ward right beside the Curse Ward, "this ward is usually where we bring check-ups and new admittances," she said, and Lily eyed the row of seats in which people were sitting, waiting to be called up. She led Lily to a small room towards their left, and pushed open the door.

"Euphemia, how lovely to see you again"

* * *

James choked as Lily followed the Healer into the room he'd been waiting in with his parents. He'd gone this morning to visit them briefly after Lily left for work, and had found them getting ready to leave for St. Mungos, apparently having forgotten to mention to him that Euphemia would be having her final check-up today. They'd only arrived a few minutes ago, and been ushered straight into the room they were now in.

Lily's jaw dropped as Euphemia squealed excitedly, clapping her hands, "Lily darling! Don't you look grown up, oh it's so wonderful you're here as well," she said happily. Lily looked baffled, shooting an almost accusatory look at James, before turning back to the Healer she'd come in with, who was regarding her curiously.

"You know this woman, Lily?" the Healer, Healer Cromwell, James presumed, asked, and Lily nodded.

"Um, yes, this is, er, she's my-"

"Healer Cromwell, this is my son James, Lily's boyfriend," Fleamont said, taking pity on Lily's confused stammering.

"Well this is a lovely surprise," the Healer laughed, eyes moving onto James, "it's very lovely to meet you James," she said, and James grinned, reaching up to shake her hand as Lily shook her head at him amusedly.

"Lovely to meet you," James said, turning to smile at Lily, "I swear I had no idea up until about ten minutes ago that we were coming here," he said, and Lily rolled her eyes. She grinned again at Euphemia and Fleamont, who grinned back.

"Is it inappropriate for me to get a hug from her?" Euphemia asked Healer Cromwell, who smiled and gestured for Lily to go forward. Lily hugged Euphemia and Fleamont awkwardly, eyes continuing to flicker back to the Healer.

"I didn't know she was your Healer," James said to Euphemia, who shrugged.

"Well James dear, you don't know everything about my life."

"I've been put in charge of your mother's routine check-ups, Healer Smith was in charge of her care when she was admitted here," Healer Cromwell clarified, smiling politely at James before he could say anything rude to his mother, "Lily dear, unfortunately it's not entirely appropriate for you to be assisting in this check-up," she said, smiling kindly at Lily, "so would you mind getting ahead with the paperwork I asked of you?"

"Yes, absolutely, no problem," Lily said, smiling at the Healer, before turning to the Potters, "I hope everything goes well," she said, grinning at Fleamont and Euphemia, "I'll come visit you soon," she added, reaching forwards and grasping Euphemia's hand, before throwing James a grin, "Bye," she said, and waved once more before exiting the room.

"Well that was a pleasant surprise," Healer Cromwell said smoothly, smiling kindly at the Potters. She moved forwards and started to examine Euphemia, wand moving along her upper body as she continued to speak, "how long have you known Lily?"

"Well she and James have been together for over a year now," Euphemia said, James rolling his eyes at his mothers' incessant need to over-share, "He's actually going to be proposing to her tonight."

"Mum!" James squeaked, eyes flickering, agitated, to Healer Cromwell, who had simply grinned at the proclamation, "Merlin, do you mind?"

"Your secret is safe with me," Healer Cromwell said smoothly, smiling kindly at James, "I'll make sure to let her leave on time tonight then," she added with a conspiratorial wink, and James sighed as Fleamont smirked at the Healer.

"Oh that would be so greatly appreciated dear," Euphemia gushed, smiling up at the Healer, "he's such a romantic you know, my James, he really has been planning this for a very long time so it wouldn't make do for Lily to be late. He becomes a bit manic about these things, only expected since he's been in love with the girl since he was eleven, mind-"

" _Merlin_ Mum," James groaned under his breath, turning redder and redder as Euphemia continued to don out his life story to the woman. Fleamont simply grinned at him, clapping him on the shoulder sympathetically. The Healer declared his mother to be in tip top shape, no surprise to James given the woman was healthy enough to embarrass the shite out of him, and after giving her a few Healing spells which Fleamont would have to repeat once a month, and telling her to continue to rest and take it easy for another month, declared her no longer an active patient. Fleamont happily leaned down to kiss his wife on the cheek, James grinned despite his annoyance at his mother and debated whether it was appropriate to go find Lily and tell her the news.

"Good luck to you tonight James," Healer Cromwell said with a smile, snapping James out of his thoughts as she made to exit the room, "I'm sure it will all go well. I'll be sure to let Lily know about Euphemia's recovery," she added. James noted the subtle hint that he was not supposed to go look for her, and hid a smirk, nodding his head in thanks and wishing her a pleasant day.

They walked out of the little room to find Healer Cromwell talking to Lily, who was holding a box, by the entrance of the ward. Lily grinned widely at something she said and nodded happily, before turning her head and catching James' eye, and her grin widened. Healer Cromwell turned and noticed the Potters' leaving their room, and said something to Lily, who looked surprise, but smiled nonetheless and nodded shyly. James watched her wave to the Healer, who headed up the stairs to the next floor. Lily quickly made her way over to the Potters, pulling the beaming Euphemia in for a gentle hug, maneuvering the box so it was secured against one of her hips.

"Congratulations, Evelyn just told me," Lily squealed excitedly, readjusting the box so she could hold it in front of her with two hands, "must be such a relief!"

"Oh darling, it's so good to see you like this," Euphemia said happily, looking Lily up and down in her pale green Healer robes, "all grown up and at work. So nice to know my grandchildren will have such a talented mother!" Lily blushed a dark maroon, all the way up to the roots of her hair, and James groaned, slapping his palm to his forehead. Honestly, between his parents, Lily's parents and his stupid mates, he was surprised Lily hadn't figured out what was going on. He thanked Merlin that she'd been so caught up with her new job that she'd probably missed the hints.

"Oh, um, thanks," Lily said awkwardly, throwing a smile to Fleamont, who saluted her, "I've actually got to-"

"Evans!" James turned to see a pretty brunette girl in the same pale green Healer robes heading towards them, a look of annoyance on her face. James noticed Lily grin at her, and noted this was probably that friend she'd made, the other female trainee.

"Yes?" Lily said, still smiling at the girls' irritation.

"I have had it with that woman, I cannot take it anymore," the girl complained, causing Lily to laugh. The girl only then seemed to realize Lily had actually been speaking to the people around her, and blushed a pretty light pink, "oh, I'm so sorry," she said, looking back at Lily, "I didn't mean to interrupt anything, excuse me," she said politely to the Potters, who smiled kindly at her, "I didn't mean to be rude."

"She did, she's just being nice," Lily said, and Alma shot her a bewildered look, causing Lily to grin, "Alma this is my boyfriend James, and his parents," Lily said, nodding to James and then to Euphemia and Fleamont as she addressed them in turn. James almost laughed as the girls' entire demeanor relaxed, and she turned to smile at the three of them.

"Lovely to meet you, I'm Alma Bancroft, Lily's fellow trainee," she said politely, reaching out to shake hands with James' parents, "and it's nice to finally meet you, I've heard lots of not-so-nice things about you," she added as her eyes turned to James, and he smirked as Lily sputtered.

"That's a big fat lie, Bancroft, I've been nothing but nice," Lily said, shaking her head fondly as Alma smiled at her.

"Even I find that hard to believe," James chuckled, grinning at Lily, before turning back to Alma, "nice to meet you as well."

"Is everything all right?" Alma asked, seeming to come to her senses and realising they were in a medical ward, "is there anything you need?"

"No, dear, we're on our way out. Congratulations on your new job as well," Fleamont said, smiling kindly, and Alma flushed with pleasure, a grin spreading across her face as she thanked him.

"We'd best be off, we shouldn't be distracting you any more, Lily dear," Euphemia said, smiling at Alma before prodding her husband in the arm, "Come on you two, say goodbye to Lily."

"Goodbye Lily," Fleamont deadpanned, kissing her on the cheek before leading his wife out, leaving James to follow.

"I'll see you later," James grinned, and leaned forwards to give her a quick goodbye kiss, only to have her lean back.

"James, I work here," she hissed, and he smirked as Alma giggled, "It's not professional."

"Later then," he winked, and Lily rolled her eyes. He waved at Alma, who waved back politely, before hurrying after his parents.

* * *

"You failed to mention he was gorgeous," Alma said for the third time, sitting next to Lily and dictating her own Healer's charts, in an intelligent move to get away from Gladys, as Lily continued on with Cromwell's.

"By the way, my boyfriend is gorgeous," Lily sighed, lips twitching in amusement as Alma continued to go on about the injustice of it all.

"I mean, I have never once had the honour of kissing a boy of that level, and here you are, telling him not to kiss you, I mean, really Evans, I thought we could be friends, but now I'm not sure."

"Oh shut up, can you imagine if I kissed him in the middle of the ward," Lily scoffed, wrinkling her nose delicately, "For one, I'd be known as the slaggy trainee who kisses the patients, and two, there are sick people in there, germs everywhere, not exactly the most romantic setting."

"I wish there were more girls in our group, I would so make sure they called you the slaggy trainee who kisses the patients," she sniggered, and Lily shook her head in amusement, emptying out another vial and listening carefully to Healer Cromwell's voice, her quill scratching across the page as she wrote down, word for word, the dictation, "are all the boys you live with this attractive?"

"Um, I think I'm a very biased opinion," Lily chuckled, shoving the smoke back into the vial with her wand, before placing it to her left, with the other vials she'd already completed, "Sirius has always been very good looking, objectively, probably more so than James, but don't tell him I said that," Lily added quickly, and Alma laughed.

"Can't imagine him knowing you think his best mate is attractive would be a good thing."

"He already knows," Lily laughed, shaking her head, "Everyone at Hogwarts had a thing for Sirius and James, but it was always Sirius more so than James," she said, rolling her eyes, and Alma grinned.

"What about that other one? Remus did you say his name was? He sounds nice."

"Yeah he's lovely," Lily said, smiling at Alma, "also attractive, since I know that's what you're asking," Lily snorted, as Alma raised her brows expectantly at her.

"Merlin Lily, I'm surprised you haven't gotten pregnant off the power of their looks," Alma said, breaking down into fits of giggles at her own wit.

"You're a nutter," Lily giggled, trying to control her shaking as Alma near shoved her fist in her own mouth.

"You planning on marrying the boy?" Alma asked, and Lily laughed.

"If he asks."

"This is really strange," Alma said after a few moments of quills scratching. Lily quirked a brow at her after she hadn't said anything for a little while, surprised to see she was looking a little embarrassed, "I meant, you know, us becoming such fast friends. I'm not used to clicking with someone so easily."

"I know what you mean," Lily smiled. She already felt like she and Alma had been friends for years, rather than the actual twenty four hours they'd known each other, "my mum has a theory it happens when your souls were friends in their past lives."

"That's a sweet idea," Alma smiled, "like we all just stay friends forever, in different lifetimes."

"Exactly," Lily chuckled, turning back to her page. There were various other Healers in gigantic library of different levels, talking with their friends and filling in their paperwork, so the girls had felt comfortable sitting together and gossiping while they completed their work.

It could hardly even be called a library, in Lily's opinion, it was more of a Healers lounge, which just happened to have thousands of books on Healing magic lining the walls and shelves. The middle was fairly open, seeming more to Lily like a school cafeteria than a library, although it was nicely carpeted with Mungos green, and there was a large reception at which a gaggle of chatty witches sat, who were responsible for the patient charts as well as library resources. The books on the shelves called out at the Healers at random intervals, yelling things like 'I could help with that awful rash you're researching' 'that book won't tell you anything, put it down' 'page 794, I'll solve your problem', but unlike the Hogwarts portraits which yelled out, they were being genuinely helpful. Lily watched as a few Healers simply walked in between the shelves and called out a name of a disease, following which a number of books would launch themselves off the shelves and land in a neat pile in the Healers' awaiting arms.

"So what was Gladys doing?" Lily asked after a few minutes of comfortable silence, in which the girls continued their paperwork.

"Eurgh, don't even ask, she seemed to find my very appearance funny today. Kept pointing at my boobs and laughing," Alma scoffed, tossing a braid over her shoulder, and Lily bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself from giggling, "as if I'm not already aware of my lack of significant mammary, now she has to point and laugh."

"You're very well endowed Alma, no need to be insecure," Lily giggled, and Alma rolled her eyes, shoving the still giggling redhead.

"Get back to work Evans."

* * *

"Is she fit?"

"Sirius, why is that always the first question you ask?" Remus huffed, shooting Sirius a look of annoyance as James laughed.

"You'd like her Sirius," James said simply, and Sirius smirked, nodding his head in approval as he flipped another page in the large book he was reading, leaning against the side of Remus' single bed. Remus rolled his eyes.

"And you're the one in a committed relationship, how is this my life," Remus grumbled, and Peter snickered as James reached over to where Remus was lying on his stomach on his bed, and ruffled his hair.

"I love Lily, don't be ridiculous. But that doesn't mean I'm blind, she's pretty and she seems funny."

"And apparently she's fit," Sirius piped in, and Remus rolled his eyes, reaching down to whack Sirius on the sides of his head. Sirius simply sniggered.

"Don't let Lily hear you say that," Remus snorted, and Sirius rolled his eyes.

"I'm not mentally challenged Moony, as if I'd ask Lily if her friend was fit. I asked what her name was, that's very sensitive of me."

"I think you mean unprecedented," Remus snorted, and Sirius sniggered again.

"So what is the plan tomorrow?" Peter asked, exiting the kitchen with a bowl full of Muggle crisps Lily had bought. He placed it on Remus' bed, within reach of all four of them, before sitting back down on his own bed.

"Think we should leave around the same time we did for the orphanage, if not earlier," Remus said, scratching at the top of his head, "ten seems like a fairly decent time to walk into the lodge and ask the closest way to the beach."

"Agreed," Sirius nodded, and Remus rolled his eyes, "though I think you should probably head inside by your lonesome so it's not as memorable."

"Fuck you," Remus scoffed, and Sirius smirked as James and Peter roared with laughter.

"No need to be sensitive, it's not your time of the month," Sirius added, grinning mischievously at his clever joke, "I just mean, people might remember three young lads looking for a beach, rather than just the one."

"I suppose you're right," Remus grumbled.

"You can put on a Welsh accent for effect as well," James suggested, grinning at Remus, who shot him an annoyed look as Sirius and Peter sniggered.

"What is it with you and bloody Welsh accents?" Sirius snickered, and James shrugged, grinning as he reached forward for another handful of crisps.

"You feeling ready for tonight?" Remus asked, quirking a brow at James, who nodded jerkily, clearing his throat.

"Nervous," James said, and all three of his friends sent him genuine smiles.

"You'll do great, mate," Sirius said, grinning up at James from his position on the floor.

"Everything's already arranged. All you have to do is stick to plan. We'll be out of your hair before Lily even gets home from work, so there'll be no distractions," Remus said, and James nodded.

"Yeah Prongs, Lily really loves you, I'm sure it'll be fine," Peter piped in, and James shot him a smile.

"Weird isn't it? That you might actually be engaged tomorrow," Remus said, shaking his head amusedly, "to think this is the same girl you pestered and irritated us about for years," he added, and Peter sniggered as James flushed.

"Just don't fuck up or slick your hair back," Sirius added, and Remus groaned, slapping him across the head again as Sirius sniggered madly.

* * *

"Oh my Merlin," Alma said excitedly, looking flushed and out of breath, as she entered and approached Lily in the Curse Ward later that afternoon. Healer Cromwell had spent a few hours teaching Lily the basics of Healing magic techniques, and had her try out a few skills on a magically responsive corpse. The man the body had belonged to had willingly agreed to let his body be used for Healer training following his passing, but Lily had still felt weird watching Healer Cromwell slice him open like a surgeon, and not only showing Lily and teaching her about the organs, but also being asked to repair anything Healer Cromwell asked her to. Lily was thrilled, despite the creepiness of it all, glad she was being taught so well.

"Trainee Bancroft, how nice to see you again," Evelyn said kindly, and Alma smiled at her respectfully, "How is training under my dear colleague going?"

"It's going well thank you, I got to practice on a lot of injuries today, so it's been good experience," Alma said, smiling. Her supervisor was one of the few in charge of the Artifact Accidents ward, so Alma was involved in a lot of hilarious cases, which she'd been enjoying thoroughly. Gladys, it turned out, had actually gotten her giggle fits from a tea cup that had been tampered with by a friend of hers, "Actually had to help a woman pull her head out of a vase that doesn't want to let go," she giggled to Lily, who laughed.

"People never learn that giving their furniture the power to do as they please is never a good idea," Evelyn chuckled.

"What is it you needed?" Lily asked, and Alma grinned widely.

"Are you a Quidditch fan?"

"Why?" Lily asked, frowning curiously, and Alma beamed

"Because _actual_ Gwenog _flipping_ Jonesof the Holyhead Harpies is here," Alma said excitedly, jumping up and down, and Lily snorted.

"Shouldn't you be very upset that she's hurt herself?"

"It's only a training injury," Alma snorted, rolling her eyes, and Evelyn laughed, "Oh, er, sorry, that came out incredibly insensitive."

"No, it's true," Evelyn said, regarding Alma with amusement, "these Quidditch teams bring their players in for everything, liability reasons you know," she added, turning to Lily, who grinned, "I was once called because of a result of a Trip Jinx. As if that really qualifies as a 'curse'," she finished, bringing her hands up to frame the word, and the girls laughed.

"Healer Cromwell, I really wouldn't ask if I wasn't her biggest fan, but could I please drag Lily with me to meet her?" Alma asked imploringly, and Lily shook her head exasperatedly at her friends' audacity, asking for personal favors on her second day of work.

Lily let out a relieved breath when instead of lecturing them on professionalism and how fortunate they were to be trainees, Evelyn laughed, "of course, I remember what it was like when it was new to have celebrities in the hospital. Just be back within ten minutes," she said, and Lily nodded, before allowing Alma to excitedly drag her away.

Alma didn't stop tugging at her until they got to the ground floor, and then she pulled Lily into a ward to the right of the reception desk, where the welcome witch was loudly chewing on some Droobles gum, looking blankly at the man in front of her, not really listening to what he was saying and paying attention instead to what used to be his left arm, which was now an elephants' trunk.

They entered a large ward, and Lily noticed instantly a man in the Holyhead Harpies robes, standing next to a bed in which Lily could barely make out a bandaged ankle, and speaking passionately to a woman to his right. Alma had frozen next to her, wide eyes focused on the ankle, and Lily rolled her eyes, grinning, as she in turn started to drag Alma towards the bed. Before they actually got there, the young woman speaking to the player caught Lily's eye, and a flash of recognition sparked.

"Lily Evans?" she said, pushing past the man, who now looked annoyed at the fact that she was ignoring him, "From Hogwarts?"

"Er, yes?" Lily said uncertainly, frowning at the girl, as Alma gawked at the now revealed Gwenog Jones, who was watching them curiously, with intelligent brown eyes.

"Oh Lily, it's so lovely to see you again, I'm Hestia, Hestia Jones, I was a few years above you in school!" she said happily, and Lily smiled at her politely. Truthfully she had no memory of this girl, the only thing she knew about her was that she'd been Sirius' first proper crush. It wasn't difficult to see why either, the girl had curves that went on for miles, and big brown eyes, just like her sisters, and perfect, straight white teeth, almost as if she'd been fashioned rather than born.

"So nice to see you," Lily said politely, shaking her hand, "I'm so sorry to bother, but my friend Alma," she said, gesturing to Alma beside her, who nodded at Hestia before turning back to Gwenog and waving, seemingly thrilled when she got an amused wave in response, "is a huge fan of Gwenog's and we just came down so she could introduce herself?" Lily phrased the last part as a question, hoping they wouldn't be kicked out for being so forward, or that the big Quidditch Player behind Hestia wouldn't attack them. Luckily, Gwenog smiled and gestured Alma forwards, extending her hand and speaking words to Alma, who had shot forward like a spell, that Lily could no longer hear.

"So you're a trainee here now?" Hestia said, bring Lily's attention back to her, and Lily smiled, nodding.

"Yes, just started actually. What are you up to nowadays?"

"Oh, just the usual. I'm a reporter at the Daily Prophet," she said, and Lily smiled politely, "Junior Correspondent, so no solid topic speciality yet, I'm hoping to get into Quidditch reporting. I mean, it's not like I'll have trouble getting access to interviews," she added with a laugh, gesturing to the two Quidditch players behind her, and Lily couldn't help but laugh with her. No wonder Sirius was attracted to this girl, she was a hoot, and had a natural charisma that drew people in, "how are the people in your year? Any idea about what those adorable boys are up to? What did they call themselves- the Marauders?"

Before Lily could open her mouth and answer, that yes she did know something about those 'adorable boys', there was a deafening alarm that sounded all around Mungos. Lily, alarmed, looked at Alma, who looked just as frightened as she did. There was a sudden influx of Healers, who made their way into the ward, shooing out the unnecessary personnel and sending the beds of patients to other wards, clearing space. Healer Ackerman, Alma's mentor, motioned for her to run over to him, and she sent Lily a 'good luck' look before heading over, whipping out her wand. Hestia shouted a quick 'I'll see you soon' to Lily, before following her sister's moving gurney out of the ward.

Spotting Healer Cromwell, Lily rushed over to her. Upon seeing her, an urgent expression crossed her face, and she whispered to Lily very quickly, "there's been some sort of attack. We don't yet know the details, all we know is we're getting a big wave of patients. Just stay by me. In these situations we all gather and take one patient each for as many of them as there are. The rest of us, if we're not with a patient, make our way back up to monitor the wards. With these attacks, I'm afraid we'll probably have to stay down here, you never know what curses have been used on people," she added, and grimaced. Lily barely had a moment to process what was going on when, with a bang, around thirty people were brought into the ward, floating above them and landing in beds. Lily followed as Healer Cromwell made her way for a young woman, who looked not much older than Lily, who was covered in cuts and scratches, her clothes scarlet with her blood.

"Hello dear, my name is Healer Cromwell, could you tell me your name please?" Evelyn said in a gentle but urgent voice. The girls' eyes were still closed, and Lily shot Evelyn a panicked glance, "Dear, can you hear me? Your name?"

"Cecilia," she whispered, and Evelyn noted down on an empty chart attached to the bed her name, and started taking her vitals.

Lily stood frozen as the influx of patients' screams hit her. Everywhere, people were screaming, and the colour scarlet jumped out at her. There was so much blood, so much pain, there were droplets on the floor and sobs filled the air so loud it was impossible for her to hold on to a coherent thought. She couldn't form a thought, she couldn't move. Limbs were dismembered and twisted into horrible unnatural shapes, flesh was sliced and blue bruises were plastered across every inch of skin she could see. This was the reality of war, the reality she had stopped herself from seeing. Hadn't wanted to see. This was what they were facing, what their mission would accomplish.

This is what they had to stop.

Lily shook her head, blinking back her emotions and her tears, before hurrying forwards and taking Cecilia's hand.

As Evelyn used her wand to peel away the woman's clothing, Lily flinched as she registered just how bad the damage was. Splintered ribs were sticking out of the woman's torso, there were littered scratches covering her pale skin, making it look almost translucent in comparison to the stark scarlet river. Lily fought to keep control of her gag reflex as Healer Cromwell instantly got to work. Glancing up, Lily caught the woman's weak, heartbroken gaze, and squeezed her hand as soothingly as she could manage.

"Lily," she turned to see Evelyn looking at her gently but sternly, "hold her hand and keep her speaking while I check her injuries. It looks like she's been tortured pretty badly with the Cruciatus Curse. We see this sometimes, when the curse is done so aggressively the body convulses on itself and breaks," she paused, eying Lily to make sure she had a handle on her emotions, "See if you can find out her full name and next of kin," she said quietly, and Lily nodded. Evelyn whipped out her wand and Lily, after a moment of hesitation, approached the young girls' head, taking one of her hands in her own.

"Hi Cecilia," she said gently, attempting to channel the voice her mother used to use when she was sick. Her voice shook slightly as the words Evelyn had spoken echoed through her head, "my name is Lily Evans. Could you tell me what your last name is?"

A tear leaked down the corner of the girls face, and she opened her eyes to look up at Lily's. Her blue eyes were bloodshot, but more than that, jarring because of the depth of pain Lily could see in her face. It made her heart stop and she had to force herself to breathe as Cecilia unleashed on her the full force of her suffering.

"Lowson," she whispered, her tears coming out more frequently, "my husband is dead," she added, voice cracking on the word 'dead', and Lily felt her throat go dry.

"Could you tell me what happened? Was there an attack?" Lily prodded gently, squeezing her hand in what she hoped was a supportive manner.

"They called him a blood traitor before they killed him, for marrying a half-blood," she said. Her voice was now emotionless, and as Lily continued to look into her eyes. She watched them turn blank, the light in them dulling as she continued to talk about her husband, "I never should have done this to him," she whispered monotonously.

"Cecilia, tell me who did this," Lily said slowly, trying to change the topic, blinking quickly so she wouldn't absorb the words Cecilia had said, which had gone through Lily like icy knives.

"Have you ever loved someone more than you loved yourself?" she whispered to Lily. Lily opened her mouth, and closed it again, an image of James' face grinning down at her flashing in her mind, "I hope you never feel like this," she croaked, body jerking convulsively as she let out another pained whimper. Lily quickly looked over to see that Healer Cromwell was now repairing her splintered ribs, and they seemed to be going back into her.

"Change the subject," Healer Cromwell whispered at Lily, her expression sombre, "I need her to remain calm."

"Where in Yorkshire are you from?" Lily grappled for words, focusing instead on the girls' 'Yorkshire' t-shirt and strong northern accent. Cecilia closed her eyes, biting her lower lip as she fought the urge to cry, before ignoring Lily's question, as if she hadn't spoken.

"I wish I had died and he had lived," Cecilia whispered, as if she were speaking to herself rather than Lily, and Lily squeezed her hand again, unsure of what to say, her own throat clogged with emotion as she thought of James, and what state she'd be in without him, "This is my fault, I shouldn't have let him marry me, he said my blood didn't matter but I should've known better," she had started to sob now, and Lily reached up gently to wipe away her tears, blinking back her own as Cecilia let out a little scream as Healer Cromwell tapped her foot with her wand. Her foot was completely ruined, curled in on itself in a disturbing position, "I did this to him, I did this to him," she sobbed, shaking her head aggressively side-to-side.

Lily's breath caught as Cecilia's words slapped her in the face, like a bucket of icy cold water, waking her up to reality.

Hadn't James always said her blood didn't matter?

Wasn't he now a blood traitor?

Was she hurting him?

Lily thought of James, and his goodness, and his eyes, and his laughter. She wished she had purer blood. She wished she were good enough for James.

She should leave him.

The notion flew across her mind, and her eyes watered at the thought. She should let him find someone more worthy, someone whose very existence wouldn't be a threat on his life, someone with purer blood.

"Lily, hold her still!" Evelyn said loudly, snapping Lily out of her thought process as she attempted to grasp Cecilia's hips, Cecilia's shaking having caused a few of her wounds to bleed more profusely, "she won't make it if I can't fix this."

"Cecilia," Lily whispered, gently placing her hand on the side of Cecilia's face, stopping her head so she was looking up at her, "please don't move, please stay still."

"I can't," Cecilia near shrieked, the effort causing her to cough. Lily almost screamed as Cecilia removed her hand from her mouth, only for it to be covered in blood, "I can't do this alone, I can't do it," she sobbed, and Lily bit her lip, placing her arms on the girls shoulders and holding her still, a few tears escaping her eyes as she tried to block out Cecilia's screams and sobs.

"It's okay, it's going to be okay, everything will be all right," Lily whispered in what she hoped was a soothing voice, clearing her throat again as she felt it close up with emotion, "everything will be okay."

She wished she could believe that.

* * *

"How are you feeling?"

James whipped around quickly to see Remus standing in the doorway of his and Lily's room, smiling gently.

"Er, terrified," James chuckled, ruffling his hair and readjusting his glasses. Remus smiled.

"Of what?"

"Her saying no," James said quickly, feeling vulnerable and embarrassed as he turned red. This was the first time he'd voiced that fear out loud, and the nerves erupted in his stomach as he realized that was actually a possibility, "What if we break up? What if she says no and everything is so awkward and we decide we're better off without each other?"

"You won't," Remus said gently, smiling as he watched James fiddle with his collar, "just be confident and yourself, and it'll work out."

"How do you know?" James sighed, turning his scared eyes to Remus, who shrugged, leaning against the doorway.

"I don't, I just have faith."

"I wish I had more faith," James grumbled, and Remus smirked.

"You don't think she'll say yes?"

"I don't think she'll say no," James said, and Remus grinned.

"Then what's there to be afraid of?"

"It's Lily, she always does what I don't expect," James snorted, and Remus laughed.

"She loves you mate-"

"Only Merlin knows why," Sirius scoffed, interrupting Remus and throwing himself onto the bed, "stop being such a pansy Prongs, just do it."

"Thanks, that helps," James deadpanned, rolling his eyes, and Sirius smirked at him, "when are you lot leaving anyway?" James grumbled, wanting a few minutes to pull himself together, alone, before Lily got home.

"As soon as Wormtail is ready," Sirius snorted, eyes scanning James up and down, "you look good mate."

"Oh fuck off," James grumbled, and Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Was actually being nice, for once, dickhead, but I'll tell you that you look like shit if you want," Sirius drawled, and James shot him an amused look.

"Being nice? You? Why?" he smirked, and Sirius rolled his eyes again, pushing himself up onto his feet.

"Because believe it or not, I'm actually a halfway decent best mate, and want this to go well for you," Sirius snorted, and James beamed at him.

"Oh Padfoot, you do care!"

"Piss off," Sirius sniggered, shoving James in the shoulder, "Ah! Finally!" he exclaimed, as Peter appeared in the doorway. Peter flushed, embarrassed, and Remus rolled his eyes.

"Come on, you two," he said, grinning encouragingly at James, "James doesn't want us here."

"Glad you finally caught on," James grinned, and Remus shook his head amusedly as Sirius cried out in mock-offence.

"Good luck mate," Peter squeaked, giving James two thumbs up, and James smiled at him, ruffling his hair.

"If she says no, try not to cry in front of her, it's too embarrassing," Sirius said, and James punched him in the shoulder as he sniggered.

"Get out, all of you," James snorted, waving at Remus and Peter as they shot him encouraging grins and waves, "you too," he added, when Sirius didn't leave the room. Without warning, he was pulled into a tight embrace.

"Good luck mate," Sirius said, pulling back, grinning at James, and ruffling his hair, "go get her."

James beamed at Sirius, and pulled him in for another hug.

* * *

He'd been pacing for twenty minutes, back and forth, back and forth across the living room. The boys had finally left to spend the night at his parents' place. Lily should have been back by now. He nervously fingered the ring box in his pocket, before shooting his hand up to his hair, lest she appear then and ask what was in the pocket. It had to be timed perfectly. They were going out for dinner to a Muggle restaurant where nobody would interrupt them. It was a change of plans from the restaurant he was going to take her to, but he'd changed his mind after Mr. Evans had mentioned it was her favourite restaurant. Remus had made the reservations for him, James' hand had been shaking too hard to hold the telephone. Then they would go for a walk. He was going to take her to the lily garden, as planned, and propose on a little bridge over a pond. It was the perfect plan, the perfect evening.

Now all he needed was the perfect girl, his Lily.

If she was ever coming home.

As another five minutes passed, James really started to panic. Healer Cromwell had told her, the traitor. She'd told Lily, and Lily had decided she was just going to stay at work and avoid James because she didn't want to marry him and it would be too awkward for her to come home. Yes, James was certain that was probably what had kept her delayed, especially since the damned Healer had promised to release Lily on time. James huffed, growing more agitated as he pondered the betrayal of the Healer, and the way Lily was treating him. How rude it was that she didn't at least have the gall to come back and face him. If she was going to reject him she could at least have the decency to say it to his face, rather than hide from him at her place of work. Really, he'd expected so much better from her.

Grumbling furiously as he continued his inner rant, James jumped with fright as there was a loud pop, and the girl in question appeared in front of him, in the exact spot he'd anticipated. Pushing aside the small burst of pride at his correct prediction, James turned to face her.

All his previous anger dissipated as he took one look at her face, to be replaced by gut wrenching fear.

Her face was tear stained, there was a streak of blood on her cheek, her hair had half escaped her ponytail, and she was looking at him with pain in her eyes.

"Lily, Merlin, what happened?" James asked, striding towards her and clasping her shoulders. She shook her head, her tears continuing to pour down her cheeks as she looked down at the floor, "Lily! Lily, what's the matter? Are you hurt? You're bleedi-"

"It's not my blood," she choked out, her voice thick with tears as she wiped off the blood on her face, shaking her head, "I couldn't do anything else, we tried to save her but she died," Lily whimpered, looking back up at James, who relaxed slightly, knowing she was okay.

"Fuck, I'm sorry Lily," he said gently, pulling her into his arms, holding her close as he felt her tears dampen the material on his shoulder. Lily shook her head frantically, pushing at him, pushing him off her, and he let go of her, alarmed, as she started to cry harder, looking at him with a pained expression.

"J-Just s-stay away from m-me," she near-shouted at him, tears continuing to roll down her face. James balked, his heart starting to race as she continued to take steps away from him.

"Lily, I-"

"No!" she cried, sinking into a dining chair, dropping her face into her hands, "No, I'm no good for you, you sh-shouldn't be with m-me, it's not sa-safe James, I don't, I can't, I-" she broke down into further sobs, bending over at the waist, her forehead on her knees.

James watched her, stunned and confused, unsure of what he should say or do, not fully understanding what she was talking about. He blinked a couple times, shaking his head. This was definitely not how he saw the evening going.

"Lily," he said gently, carefully approaching her and bending low so their faces were level, "talk to me," he murmured, placing his finger under her chin and directing her face up, so her eyes met his.

"I-I can't be with you anymore," she whimpered, looking into his beautiful hazel eyes that made her feel like home with a heavy heart, "It's not fair to you-"

"What's not fair to me?" he murmured, eyes searching her face for any indication that this was what she actually wanted. As far as he could see, she was trying to convince herself more than she was him that they had to break up. The thought blazed through him like a fire, heating up his insides pleasantly, destroying the shard of ice that had pierced him the second she had pushed him away.

Lily didn't want to break up with him. Lily thought she had to.

"M-my _blood_!" she cried, shaking her head. James frowned slightly, crouching down in front of her so her face was above his, all the while continuing to look into those beautiful emeralds.

"Your blood?"

"Y-yes James. I'm a _Mudblood_ ," she sniffed, and James' eyebrows shot up.

"Lily, d-"

"No, no, don't interrupt me, I, I need to get this out," Lily sniffed, taking a deep breath before looking into James' surprised, kind, beautiful loving eyes, "I love you, I really do, but the reality here is that you're a pure blood, and I'm a Mudblood, and I'm putting you in danger if I stay with you because you'll be targeted as I will, because it makes you a blood traitor, and James I just, I can't do that to-"

"Stop," James said, a little more harshly than he intended, grabbing her hand as her words became more frenzied, "Stop," he repeated gently, reaching up and wiping away her tears, "Lily, you know none of that matters to me, it's all just nonsense, why are you letting it-"

" _Because_!" she shouted, pulling her hand away from his, "I know it doesn't matter to you, and that's one of the things I love most about you James, that you're good, and you treat people equally and with respect. But James, the world isn't like that right now, people who think like you are going to get hurt, get killed, for protecting people like me," she finished, wiping away her tears more aggressively as James continued to look at her. He didn't seem to be understanding that she was trying to do the right thing, "James it's what's best for you, the right thing to do-"

"Those aren't the same thing," he said, shaking his head as he re-grasped her hand, not letting her pull it away again, "yes, you're probably right, I wouldn't be targeted as heavily if I wasn't with you- no, _listen_ to me!" he said, as she began to speak, "But I'd still be targeted Lily, this war isn't just against people because of blood, I'll always be a target as long as I disagree and fight against You-Know-Who Lily, you know that. I'm never going to agree with him, or join him. And Lily, just because it might be what's easier for me, doesn't mean it's the right thing to do," he added, looking sincerely up into her lovely face, "I don't care about this Lily, I don't, and I don't want you to. My blood, your blood, what difference does it make? You're the one for me Lily, you always have been. You're beautiful, and kind, and gentle, and intelligent, and everything I've ever wanted for myself. How could something as insignificant as your ancestry change that?" he said, and Lily's breath hitched as his sincerity and love shone through his face at her.

"I can't be responsible for something happening to you James, I couldn't live with myself, I just couldn't," she whispered, a few tears escaping the corners of her eyes, "I can't live without you."

"You don't want this to end," he whispered, and Lily shook her head, closing her eyes tight.

"No, but I want you to be safe," she whispered back, her eyes boring into James with such sincerity that the words flew out of James' mouth before his brain could catch up.

"Marry me."

Lily's jaw dropped and her eyes widened as her brain repeated the words over and over in her head. Marry me _Marry_ me Marry me Marry me _Marry me_.

"Wh-what?" she managed, blinking quickly at him, "H-Haven't you been listening?" she stammered, and James smiled, his eyes not shifting from her face.

"Marry me, Lily Evans."

"James, I don't think you're fully grasping that this is not a smart idea," she squeaked. James only grinned in response.

"Marry me, Lily."

"No! No," she said, shaking her head aggressively, eyes wide, as James' grin didn't dim, "No, James, this isn't something you're supposed to do spontaneously, it, it takes lots of thought and planning, and you're supposed to have a ring, and besides-"

Lily's heart jumped into her throat as James reached into his pocket and pulled out a dark velvet ring box. Her eyes shot up to his, to see that he was still smiling at her, before moving back down to the box as he opened it to reveal the most gorgeous ring she'd ever seen in her life. It had an old look to it, with a thin gold band and a princess cut glistening diamond sparkling up at her. James had moved, he was now on one knee in front of her, holding the ring out.

"James," she breathed, looking back up at him, eyes glazed with tears as she grappled for words to say.

"Lily, I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you," he said, eyes blazing as he stared into hers, looking proud and strong and like the perfect prince, "You are the best decision I've ever made. You're my best friend, the love of my life, and you make me happier than I ever thought a person could be. I want to grow old with you, have children with you, have grandchildren with you and die in your arms when I'm 100 years old. And I'll spend all that time trying to make you as happy as you make me, so Lily, will you-"

Before James could finish his question, she leaned forwards and pressed her lips against his.

"You're an incorrigible prat," she breathed, pulling away and resting her forehead against his. James beamed at her.

"Is that a yes?"

Lily beamed, nodding her head, wiping away more tears, these ones of happiness, "Yes."

James grinned widely, plucking the ring out of the box and sliding it into place on her finger where it belonged, and where it would remain until death did them apart.

* * *

 **I had the best time writing this chapter. It's massively long, and I would apologize for that but something tells me nobody will mind that much.**

 **Let me know what you think! Please read, please review, and then review again if the urge finds you!**

 **Fanfic love,**

 **t.t.**


	8. Missteps

**Disclaimer: I can only dream of being JK Rowling, but sadly, I am not, and I did not invent this world or these characters. All I have is this plotline.**

* * *

"This is just rude," Sirius grumbled, as he entered the dining area at James' parents' house for breakfast.

"Truly," Remus snorted, shaking his head exasperatedly as he turned a page in the Daily Prophet. Peter was stuffing his mouth full of waffles, and James' parents were sitting in their usual spots, drinking tea and watching the boys with amused eyes.

"I mean, he could've called and let us know how it went," Sirius huffed as he threw himself onto his usual chair, "so selfish."

"Yes, Sirius, James is selfish," Remus droned on, continuing to read the Prophet.

"I mean, doesn't he care about what this is doing to us? I don't even know if he's engaged. What kind of Best-Man-to-be doesn't know if the bloke he's Best Man-ing for is even engaged?" Sirius continued, and Remus rolled his eyes. Sirius had been addressing himself as 'Best-Man-to-be' since they'd arrived at the Potter place yesterday.

"Best Man-ing?" Peter garbled out around his mouthful of waffles, throwing Sirius an amused look.

"Leave him alone," Euphemia chuckled, smiling adoringly at Sirius, "we're all anxious for news on how last night went."

"Some of us handle emotions better than others," Remus quipped, and Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Clearly," Fleamont snorted, winking at Sirius, who stuck his tongue out at the old man.

"Oh perfect mother Moony and her well-handled emotions, excuse me if I vomit," Sirius snorted grumpily, and Remus shot him a sardonic look as the Potters hid their laughter, "I'm done with this waiting nonsense, I'm going to call him," Sirius announced, fishing his mirror out of his pocket.

"Sirius!" Remus squawked, "leave them alone!"

"Remus is right, they'll call when they're ready," Euphemia said, and Sirius snorted.

" _Ready_? Ready for what?"

"To deal with other people," Remus said wisely, and Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Stop being so wise Moony, it's making me sick," he grumbled, and Remus sighed, rubbing at the bridge of his nose.

"I do not have the patience for you and your whining right now," he said, and Sirius gaped as Peter choked on his waffles. Fleamont thumped him on the back, smirking at Sirius' aghast expression, "when you decide to stop whining about your sad life, maybe you'll pay attention to the fact that there was another attack yesterday in Yorkshire," Remus said, and Sirius grumbled.

"This is why I don't like the news, it's all so depressing now," Sirius said, shaking his head and shooting a dirty look at the Prophet, "Fine, but I'm giving them ten more minutes. I'll call then," he decided, and Remus shot a pleading look to the heavens as Euphemia giggled.

"This'll cheer you up, mate," Remus chuckled, turning the page around to show Sirius an article headline, under which a moving picture of a pretty brunette witch with dark hair winked at the camera.

"Ah, Hestia Jones, the one who got away," Sirius said dramatically, snatching the Prophet from Remus and hugging it to himself as the others laughed, "She had the most amazing pair of-"

"That's enough out of you, Sirius," Euphemia cut in, shaking her head exasperatedly as Remus rolled his eyes, grabbing the paper back from a sniggering Sirius, who was hi-fiving Fleamont. Thank Merlin she'd soon have another girl in the family.

* * *

Lily rolled her eyes as James cackled with laughter again. They'd been lying in bed for hours, their sporadic conversations interrupted by amorous activities throughout the night. After James had placed the ring on her finger, he'd taken her for the dinner and walk he'd had planned for the proposal anyway. They'd gotten back close to midnight, when James dragged her to the bedroom, and here they were, seven hours later. She hadn't gotten a wink of sleep.

"I can't believe she did that," James sniggered again, and Lily shook her head exasperatedly, yawning hugely, "Poor Alma."

"Gladys is special," Lily giggled, cuddling into James' side. His arm wrapped around her shoulders, pulling her closer into his body.

"I hope my job is this entertaining," he snickered, and Lily rolled her eyes

"You're going with your best mate, I'm sure it'll be fun," she yawned again, and James smiled down at her.

"You didn't get any sleep, sorry," he said, and Lily quirked a brow at him.

"Are you?"

"Well, no," he said after a moment's thought, and Lily giggled as he grinned at her, "Not sorry you didn't get any sleep, sorry you have a full day at work ahead on no sleep."

"That's very considerate of you, thanks," she giggled again. She rested her left hand against his chest and admired the beautiful new addition to her ring finger. It looked so perfect, as her ivory hand rested on his tanned chest, the diamond glistening up at her.

"You do like it, right?" James said after a moment, and Lily glanced up at him, to see him looking down at her hand as well, "I mean, it's been passed down in my family for ages, it's not too old fashioned for you is it?"

"James it's beautiful," she smiled, leaning up to kiss his chin. He grinned down at her, eyes shooting back to the ring, "you look very happy," she said, grinning back up at him, and he scoffed, nudging her playfully

"My eleven year old self and I are celebrating, leave us alone," he retorted, and Lily giggled, wrapping her arms around his waist.

"I wish we could stay here all day," Lily sighed, closing her eyes and resting on his shoulder, humming contentedly, "we haven't spent the whole day, just the two of us, in ages."

"I know what you mean," James murmured, sifting his fingers through her hair, smiling as she hummed against his skin, "it's been crazy these last few weeks."

"I should just not go to work today, I'll call in sick," Lily said, and James chuckled.

"And abandon poor Alma with nobody but Gladys for company? Not very nice, Lily," he tutted, and Lily giggled, "Besides, Healer Cromwell will know you're not sick," he said, and Lily lifted her head, shooting him an inquisitive look.

"What do you mean? How would she know that?"

"Er, well," James cleared his throat as her emerald eyes pierced him, "my mum was over-sharing yesterday, and blabbed about the proposal," he said. Lily's face remained expressionless for a second, before shifting, bubbling laughter bursting out of her mouth.

"Healer Cromwell is so manipulative," she giggled, and James quirked a brow at her, "when I was talking to her before I came over to you three, after the check-up, she told me you were a wonderful boy and to hold on to you," she giggled, and James' eyes widened as Lily lowered her head to his chest, giggling still.

"She said that?" he barked a laugh, shaking his head amusedly, grinning up at the ceiling, "why don't people ever leave us alone?"

"We surround ourselves with nosy people, that's why," she sighed, and James grinned, "Besides, I should probably go today anyway, who knows who else might need help after the attack."

"Sounds like it was horrible," James sighed, ruffling his hair, and Lily nodded, squeezing her eyes closed.

"Our patients' husband was killed for being a blood traitor because he married a half blood," Lily said quietly, and James sighed, squeezing her around the shoulders again, "that's why I-"

"I know," James said gently, kissing her atop the head, "but I meant what I said yesterday love, it doesn't matter to me."

"I'm scared," Lily whispered. James was still for a moment, and then Lily felt his finger underneath her chin, guiding her face up to his, so their eyes met.

"I'm not," he said, and Lily sighed.

"James, can I just say something?" she said quietly, and he nodded shortly, his jaw set as his hazel eyes stared into hers, "I, I know it's a risk for you, loving me, choosing to marry me. And I know you don't realize that. So, just, thank you," she finished. Rather than smiling, James' face remained expressionless.

"Lily, it's not something that I even register in my brain, I never have. I couldn't give a whit about your blood, or my blood, I don't even fully understand all the drama behind it because I think it's so insignificant. I don't need a thank you Lily, just you to stop questioning and worrying about all this blood stuff, especially when it comes to me," he said, and Lily nodded, using his body as leverage to lift herself and kiss him softly.

"You know I love you, right?" she murmured against his lips, and he grinned, pressing his lips firmly to hers again.

"What are you doing today?" she asked.

"The boys are leaving me alone," he pouted, and Lily grinned, "said I haven't helped enough to justify a field trip, so I'm stuck here reading and researching things while they go scout out the cave."

"Poor James," she giggled, and he rolled his eyes, ruffling her hair, "no lads holiday for you"

"Shut it," he chuckled, shaking his head amusedly, staring up at the ceiling, "to be fair, I have been very distracted."

"I'm very impressed you went to my parents, especially my dad," Lily said, grinning, and James rolled his eyes as she started to giggle, "and braved an elevator _and_ a revolving door, I think you really must love me." James shoved her and she giggled harder as he rolled over on top of her, "James stop it I have to get ready soon," she said, as he lowered his face into the crook of her neck and started to nibble.

"And?"

"And I won't if you keep doing that," she sighed, closing her eyes as her body started to respond to him again.

"You've got two hours until you need to be at work," he murmured, and Lily inhaled sharply as he bit at her collarbone. Just as she was about to give in, a loud voice started to call from somewhere on the floor.

"What is that?" she asked, and James groaned, dropping his head to her shoulder dejectedly.

"Speaking of nosy people," he grumbled, and Lily smirked as Sirius' repeated shouts of 'Prongs!' finally registered.

"Should I get it or will you?" Lily giggled, and James groaned, pushing himself off her so he was sitting up on the side of the bed.

"Where are my fucking clothes," he grumbled, and Lily grinned, leaning up onto her elbows and watching as he pulled on a pair of underwear, shooting her an annoyed look, "Can you just stop looking so alluring right now?" he said, and Lily cocked her head to the side, wiggling her ring finger at him. He groaned, and she laughed, pushing herself up and grabbing her dressing gown, threading her arms through it. James' arms wrapped around her from behind, and she turned so she was looking up into his face, "one day, we'll get a room at the Leaky or something where nobody will bother us, and just spend some time together," he said, and Lily beamed, nodding her head at him. He leaned down to kiss her quickly, before groaning as Sirius's shouts became louder and more insistent.

"So inconsiderate," Lily giggled, searching the floor for the mirror as James pulled on a t-shirt and jeans. She found it, and handed it to James, who used the mirror as leverage to pull her forwards as well. She squeaked as she smashed into him, shooting him a stern look, "James."

"Lily," he mocked, pressing a quick kiss to her temple, "go get dressed, I imagine the pests will be returning soon. I'll go deal with this," he said, waving the mirror, and Lily grinned, kissing his cheek quickly.

"Thank you for last night," she said, and he grinned.

"Thank you for saying yes."

Lily laughed as with a final kiss, James made his way out of the room, saying Sirius' name into the mirror as the door closed behind him.

* * *

"What?" James huffed, throwing himself down on Remus' bed as he Sirius' grumpy face came into view.

"Oh Prongs! Nobody has ever been so excited to speak to me!"

"What do you want?" James sighed as he ruffled his hair, and Sirius grinned at him, before his face turned grumpy again.

"You've been unequivocally rude to us, Prongs," he said seriously, and James rolled his eyes as he heard Remus scoff in the background, "we've been waiting with bated breath for any news as to your potential upcoming nuptials and we've been let down."

"Apologies," James chuckled, and Sirius huffed, turning his nose away from the mirror.

"You see? He doesn't care. What did I tell you? Selfish," he said to someone James couldn't see, and James snorted as he heard his parents laugh.

"Sirius, stop being a prat, what happened James?" Remus' disembodied voice called.

"You haven't been silent because you're wallowing in depression, have you?" Sirius asked, and James rolled his eyes as he heard Peter snickering.

"No," he said, and Sirius beamed widely.

"So she said yes."

"She did," Lily said, leaning over James' shoulder to grin at Sirius, "hello Sirius, so nice of you to bother us."

"Oh, so now that you're engaged it's 'us' is it?" Sirius retorted, grinning at Lily, who rolled her eyes as James chuckled. There was a lot of squealing and clapping on Sirius' side of the mirror, and he looked over at the source and grinned before turning back to the screen.

"What do you want, Sirius?" Lily asked, exasperated.

"Come here for breakfast!" Euphemia's voice called, and James turned to look at Lily with at questioning look.

"Yeah, I can do that," Lily said, and James grinned.

"You two make me sick," Sirius snorted, watching as James and Lily beamed at each other, "be careful I don't vomit all over your wedding altar."

"Don't come then," Lily said sweetly, and Sirius narrowed his eyes at her as James snickered.

"We'll be there in a few," James chuckled, speaking before Sirius could no doubt rant at Lily about insensitivity and how monumentally important he was. He switched off the mirror and turned to face Lily, who grinned down at him, "sure you're good to go?"

"Yeah, I'll just go straight to work from your parents'," she smiled, and James beamed, standing up so he was looking down at her.

"Come on then, Potter, we better get going," he said, eyes sparkling, and Lily rolled hers.

"That's not my name."

"Yet," he winked, and she blushed, "Lily Potter, I think it has a nice ring to it," he said, and Lily grinned.

"Yeah, me too."

* * *

Lily and James apparated right onto the doorstep of the Potters' place, "ready?" James said, grinning at Lily, who took a deep breath before nodding. He smirked and reached forwards, pushing open the front door. The second they were inside, James was almost knocked over as Sirius barged right into him, grabbing him in a brotherly hug. James grinned, hugging his best mate back as he noticed a giggling Lily was being swung around by Remus. Peter was standing next to them, laughing.

"Way to go mate, now she's stuck with you forever," Sirius sniggered, pulling black and ruffling James' hair, beaming happily.

"It's not too late to change your mind, Lily," Remus said seriously, and James narrowed his eyes at him playfully as Lily giggled, accepting a one armed hug from Peter, "Sirius is available," he added, and Sirius guffawed.

"It's only been about twelve hours Remus, ask me tomorrow," she said, winking at James, who rolled his eyes amusedly.

"You see what I put up with?" he asked, turning to Sirius, who smirked.

"You're the one who proposed."

Before James could retort, a loud squealing sounded behind them. He turned and, to his shock, saw Jane Evans hurrying towards her daughter, hugging her tight. Lily's eyes were wide with surprise, and she quickly glanced at James, who simply shrugged.

"Oh Lily darling! This is so exciting!"

"Mum?" Lily said stupidly, causing Sirius, Remus and Peter to snigger, "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, these lovely boys came to get us a few minutes ago," she said, grinning at Remus and Sirius, who flushed slightly, "they poofed us here right before you appeared!"

"It's not as simple as poofing," Lily chuckled, hugging her mother again. Euphemia entered the room, her face wet with happy tears, and beamed at James, wordlessly pulling him into a tight hug.

"Hello mum," James chuckled, "you're uncharacteristically silent, I was expecting more from you," he added, wrapping his arms around her shoulders. She smacked him in the shoulder, but remained silent, causing him to grin and hold her tighter.

"Show me your hand!" Jane said excitedly, grabbing Lily's hand, and Lily's eyes widened, shooting an amused look at James, who was now attempting to push his full on weeping mother off to his father, his father simply smirking and taking a step back.

"Is that what you meant when we came over that day? Not that Healing hands rubbish?" Lily giggled, and Jane grinned, winking at James.

"Poor James looked like he was going to pass out," she giggled, and James laughed.

"I think pass out is putting it lightly," the voice of Andrew Evans said, and they turned to see him standing in the doorway grinning happily. James grinned at his future father-in-law, who beamed, wiping at his eyes with a handkerchief.

"Dad, I heard you were unfairly harsh on James," Lily tutted, grinning as he hugged her father, who laughed.

"I said yes, didn't I?"

"Yes well, so did I," Lily giggled, and Fleamont sighed.

"It's no-one's fault then, you both made mistakes," he said somberly, smirking as James shoved him, and the Marauders cackled with laughter.

"Fleamont, tosh, leave James alone," Euphemia scolded, reaching up to pinch her very embarrassed son's cheek. James rolled his eyes to the heavens, praying for patience and for the ability to be deaf to Sirius' snickering, "Now, who wants breakfast?"

* * *

"Shut up," Alma said, looking down at Lily's ring. Lily had just arrived, and was quickly changing her clothes as Alma's eyes followed her hand, "Shut. Up."

"I know," Lily giggled, looking down at her finger happily, "I didn't see it coming at all."

"I can't believe it," Alma laughed, grabbing at Lily's hand for a closer inspection once the girl was finally done changing, "how did he do it? What did you say exactly?"

"Honestly, I said no at first," Lily laughed, and Alma snorted, "Especially after my patient-"

"I told you yesterday not to let that get to you," Alma said sympathetically, looking at Lily with an earnest expression on her face, and Lily sighed.

"I know, and James told me it didn't matter as well, and keeps telling me, but I just felt-"

"Let's not rehash this," Alma said gently, squeezing Lily's hand, "it'll do nothing but make you miserable and you'll start re-questioning your decision to say yes," she said, and Lily sent her a watery smile, "Besides, you'll be married soon!" she grinned, and Lily beamed, "although frankly I didn't expect you to come in with a ring on your finger today," she snickered, and Lily laughed.

"Me neither," Lily giggled, as Alma let go of her hand and they started to make their way up the stairs. The handful of patients who had survived the attack the previous day had been moved up to the curse ward, and all trainees had been instructed to go up there and help out as best they could, "I never thought I'd be getting married so early."

"Age is just a number, and I think it makes sense to get married quickly when there's no guarantee of more time," Alma said the last part sadly, as they entered the ward and looked around. Alma's patient, a boy not much older than they were, hadn't survived yesterday either, and she'd spent the evening in tears.

"Exactly," Lily said sadly, as she looked around the ward at the crying families, "I feel so bad being this happy while so many people are miserable," she admitted guiltily, looking back down at her ring, "does it make me a bad person?"

"Lily, if you can find happiness in a world like this, I say do anything you can do embrace it," Alma replied, before nodding to her left, "Cromwell's over there," she said, and Lily smiled gratefully, continuing to scan the room, "besides, as harsh as it is, we can't actually stand to take all our patients emotions and problems personally, we won't make it. That's why they don't let us get too close to them."

Lily sighed and nodded, knowing that what Alma was saying was right, before pointing to the back of the ward, "Ackerman's there, doesn't look so good," she said, making it clear to Alma that she didn't want to discuss the issue any further, and bless her, Alma seemed to understand.

"Oh good, I'm so looking forward to another emotional day," Alma snorted, and Lily smiled.

"I'm sure you'll be allowed to spend time with Gladys if you-"

"Yes, _goodbye_ ," Alma scoffed, and Lily chuckled as the girl made her way across the ward. She headed towards where Evelyn was scribbling down something on a chart, and cleared her throat to get her attention. Evelyn jumped, before grinning as she realized it was Lily.

"What did you say?"

Lily grinned and lifted her left hand.

"Oh splendid! Congratulations," Evelyn smiled, pulling Lily in for a gentle hug.

"James said you knew," Lily said, and Evelyn laughed.

"And you'll do well to let him know I kept my mouth shut, not an easy feat, mind you," she said, and Lily giggled, nodding.

"I'll let him know," she said, and Evelyn smiled, "what do you need me to do today?"

"Actually Lily," Evelyn sighed, "it would be incredibly helpful if I could trust you to deal with Damien by yourself," she said, and Lily felt her face drain of colour, "can you do that?"

"Um," Lily took a deep breath, before nodding her head, "Yes, yes I can," she said, and Evelyn smiled gently at her.

"There's no need to rush it, take your time," she said, and Lily nodded, looking nervously at the curtains behind which she knew Damien lay, "remember, take a break between each arm, and then one solid session for the whole torso. Do you remember the spell?"

"I remember," Lily said, and Evelyn smiled gently.

"Thank you Lily, come find me when you're done, I should be around there somewhere," she said, nodding towards the other wide of the ward where all the attack victims were being treated. Evelyn sighed a huge sigh, "looks like it was a large group of Death Eaters, playing with the Cruciatus and other curses," she grimaced, and Lily winced, trying not to think of Cecilia's body and how the Cruciatus Curse had caused her enough pain to break herself.

"Um, Evelyn," Lily stammered, and the Healer turned her intelligent eyes down to Lily, "are all victims of the Cruciatus Curse covered with cuts and bruises the way Cecilia was?" she asked, and Evelyn sighed sadly.

"Mrs. Lowson was closer to the worst-case-scanario, which, of course, is insanity," she said, and Lily nodded quickly, "In reality it depends on a few factors; the intensity of the curse, the number of times it is inflicted, and how much the individual moves as a result," she continued, before closing her eyes and sighing sadly, "unfortunately it's not an exact science. I've seen cases like Cecilia's where the curse was intense and caused much movement, but sanity remained, but also cases where the victim's appearance was flawless but they'd reached insanity. I believe that if the curse is repeatedly cast and removed, then insanity is the more probable result regardless of the intensity, whereas a very intense and aggressive curse cast in one long stretch would likely result in a situation akin to poor Cecilia," she said, and Lily took a deep breath, nodding quickly, "Any reason you ask, dear?"

"Just curiosity," Lily said, shaking her head, "I'd never seen anything like Cecilia's injuries or even imagined it could be the result of a curse."

"It's not an affliction we publicise," Evelyn said, nodding her head, "it's easier this way. If wizards knew this was a possible effect, there would be more fear and panic circulating than already is."

Thankfully Alma approached them at this moment, saving Lily from coming up with a response, "Hi Healer Cromwell, Healer Ackerman doesn't need me for his case today and told me to ask someone else. Would you by chance have anything you could use me for?" she asked, and Evelyn looked at Lily.

"Alma why don't you go with Lily today. She'll be treating Damien for burns. It would be an opportunity for you to learn the spells for treating burns, is that okay with you?" she asked, and Alma nodded, a wary expression on her face, as Evelyn turned back to Lily, "Lily dear, would you do the first arm yourself, so Alma can see how it's done, and then allow her to help you with the torso as I did?" she asked, and Lily nodded, shooting Alma a reassuring smile, "You can work on Damien's abdomen while Alma takes his ribs, as you did last time." Lily's eyes widened, alarmed.

"But I-"

"The abdomen isn't as durable as the ribs, as I mentioned to you last time, but after seeing your handiwork I trust you can handle it. When you're working on it, I'll need you to flick your wand up slightly, like this," she said, demonstrating the small circular motion and then lifting it slightly, performing a circle slightly higher up, "just so that the magic rises and doesn't affect his organs. Understood?"

"Yes," Lily nodded, and Evelyn smiled.

"Alma," she said, "when Lily's finished with Damien's first arm, you'll go to the library and read up on the spell while Lily covers his second arm, before you work on his torso, understood?"

"Yes ma'am," Alma nodded, and Evelyn smiled.

"Off you go."

* * *

"Will you be okay?"

"I'll be fine," James grumbled, crossing his arms as he enviously watched Sirius, Remus and Peter get ready to leave.

"Are you sure, Prongsie?" Sirius cooed, and James shot him an annoyed glare as Sirius smirked at him.

"Now you be sure to have accomplished something by the time we get back," Remus lectured, and James rolled his eyes as Remus walked in, holding a small bag Lily had cast an undetectable extension charm in, "and next time you can come with us."

"Yes mum," James muttered, and Remus shook his head exasperatedly as he turned to the snickering Peter and Sirius.

"Have we all got the address memorized?" he asked, and they nodded. James smirked, finding it entirely too funny that Remus was the scariest one in their group, "sod off then I need a word with James," he said.

"Wha-"

" _Go_ ," Remus urged, sticking them both with stern glares, and with an eye roll each, they waved to James and turned on the spot.

"Another lecture on research skills, Moony?" James asked bitterly, looking down at the piles of books and maps around him.

"I wanted to speak with you," Remus said, and James rolled his eyes

"Believe it or not mate, I gathered that for myself."

"It's about Lily," Remus said, and James' eyes shot up to his. He was surprised to find that Remus looked fairly grim, and had a determined set to his jaw.

"What about her?"

"Look," Remus started, and James was surprised to see that he looked a little sheepish, "I've always felt like Lily's elder brother, ever since we were paired together as Prefects in Fifth Year," he started, and James nodded mutely, curiously watching as Remus began to pace.

"You're not going to tell me you're in love with her or something, are you?" James asked after a few minutes silence, and Remus snorted, pinning him with a disgusted and annoyed look.

"What is the matter with you? I just said I felt like her brother!" Remus squawked, and James failed to control his smirk, "I just mean, look," Remus sighed, sitting down on his bed, "you're my best mate, but so is Lily, and now you're engaged and I have to say something which is going to be really awkward," he said, and James quirked a brow at him, "I'll always be your best mate, and I'll be there for you no matter what you do, but if you _do_ do anything to hurt her, and I'm not saying you will, I know how much you love her, but you should know you'll have to me to answer to," he said. Remus' face was now completely pink, his jaw set challengingly, and his eyes were darting nervously around James' face.

James had never loved Remus more.

James smiled, "I know," he said simply, and Remus nodded jerkily, getting to his feet and looking away from his mate. He'd meant what he said, as much as he loved James, if he ever hurt Lily, Remus wasn't entirely sure what he would do. He'd remain friends with James, he was certain of that, but after becoming so close to Lily, and having grown up with her, he was also certain it would take him a very long time to forgive James. Because Lily was his best mate too.

"Right, so just, just treat her like she deserves, okay?" Remus said, clearing his throat awkwardly and nodding in James' vicinity without looking at him, "Um, I'm off then. You, you read, er, bye," he said, and James grinned.

"Bye."

* * *

"What the fuck took you so long? Did you read him a soliloquy or something? Bare him the fruits of your soul?" Sirius sputtered as Remus finally had the good grace to show up, "thought you'd decided you'd rather read."

"We wouldn't have been all that surprised," Peter said somberly, and Remus rolled his eyes at the two of them before nodding at the row of buildings on the street in front of them.

"Did you dunderheads figure out which one it was yet?" he snapped. Sirius frowned at him, noticing that his cheeks were slightly pink, and quirked a brow.

"Moony what's the matter? Did you _actually_ bare to him the fruits of your soul?" he asked, and Remus scoffed, shoving at Sirius as Peter smirked.

"Don't be ridiculous, idiot, answer my question," he said, punctuating it with a little nervous laughter. Sirius continued to frown at him, wondering what had made him so jittery, when Peter piped up.

"Yes, it's that one over there with the red door," he said, nodding at what looked like a wooden green townhouse.

"Yes, _thank_ you Wormtail. Wait here, I'll go ask them the way to the beach," Remus said, shaking his head as he pushed past Sirius.

"Why don't I go?" Peter said uncertainly, as he eyed Remus oddly. Before Remus could say anything or make his way to the building, Sirius nodded, and Peter shot off.

"Seriously mate, is everything okay? Did Prongs say something to you?" Sirius asked, his voice dripping with concern. Remus smiled slightly as he realized Sirius was genuinely worried, and nodded.

"No, no it's nothing like that. I just had to have an awkward overdue conversation with him is all," he said, "Residual nerves," he added, shaking his shoulders. When Sirius continued to frown, he added, "Really, I'm fine."

"What about?" Sirius asked, quirking a brow.

"Um, we talked about Lily," Remus said awkwardly, and Sirius' eyebrows raised.

"You're not in love with her or something are you?"

"You and Prongs share a brain, I swear that was almost word for word," Remus snorted, rolling his eyes, and Sirius sniggered.

"Then what is it?"

"It's between James and me, you don't need to know everything Sirius," Remus said, crossing his arms and fixing Sirius with a stern look. Sirius continued to scrutinize him, before adopting an amused expression.

"Holy fuck," he smirked, "you were being protective, of Lily."

"What?" Remus said, looking down at his fingernails and acting completely nonchalant, "why would you say that?"

"You told Prongs to be good to her, didn't you?" Sirius asked, his smirk widening, and Remus huffed, sticking him with an annoyed glare.

"So?" Remus huffed, speaking slightly more aggressively than he intended due to his unusually heightened levels of embarrassment.

"Nothing," Sirius grinned, "I think it's sweet."

"Sod off."

"No, really, I'm glad you said it," he said, and Remus rolled his eyes, turning away from Sirius as the door to the building opened and Peter came out. He and Sirius turned away quickly, so Remus' back was to the door, as a Muggle man, who seemed to be giving him directions, followed him out.

"He's pointing that way, let's go so we don't look too weird following Wormtail. You know he'll make it really obvious we're being sneaky," Sirius said, and Remus nodded, snorting slightly at the image of Peter constantly looking back at them to make sure they were there, while simultaneously pretending they weren't a group. The two of them started to head down the road, walking right past Peter, carefully placing their feet so as not to trip due to the cobbles.

"You know, Moony. She's my sister too," Sirius said after a few moments of silence, staring ahead, his cheeks tingeing pink, and Remus smiled, nudging Sirius' shoulder with his own.

"I know."

After a few moments, Peter was beside them, breathing a little heavily, having run to catch up with them, "Okay, so it's to the left here and down some stairs," Peter said, and they nodded, heading on their way.

* * *

"So now she's sending two children."

"Hello Damien," Lily said, plastering a forced smile on her face as she and Alma made their way in through the curtain.

"What, did she get bored of me?" he asked, quirking a brow at her, completely ignoring Alma, who was standing there looking slightly sick. Lily remembered how she had felt the first time she had met Damien, and took pity on her, distracting Damien so he wouldn't notice.

"Do you blame her, you're really not the brightest ball of sunshine," she said, and Damien sent her a sardonic look

"Burn joke?"

"No!" Lily gasped, and to her surprise, Damien smirked, "I would never do that!"

"Nice ring," he said, nodding towards her hand, and Lily looked down, grinning, "New?"

"Yes," she said, meeting his eyes, and he snorted.

"Who's the unfortunate bloke?"

"My fiancé," she said smartly, and Damien coughed a laugh, "Damien, this is Trainee Bancroft, er, I mean, Alma," she corrected after Damien's eye roll, gesturing to the girl in question, who had somewhat pulled herself together, and now just looked a little nervous, "she's just started as well."

"So I was right, she's sending in children," he snorted, nodding at Alma, who managed a tight-lipped smile in return, "she's shitting herself," he said to Lily, who bit back a laugh as Alma started, shooting Damien an offended look.

"I am not," she said, taking a step forwards.

"No ring for you," he said, looking down at her left hand, and Alma crossed her arms in annoyance, "poor thing."

"I'm not the one lying in a hospital bed, so save your pity," she snorted, and Damien smirked, turning to face Lily's shocked face.

"I like her, she's mean," he said, and Lily shook her head fondly as she took a wary step forwards, pulling out her wand. His expression immediately shifted to one of terror, and Lily smiled gently at him.

"Healer Cromwell told me to take charge of your treatment today, I hope that's okay," she said kindly, and he nodded jerkily, meeting her eyes nervously, "I'll do exactly what she did, with the same breaks. Alma will do what I did last time. She'll simply observe at first, then she'll leave, and then she'll help me with your upper body. Is that okay with you?" she asked, and he sighed, nodding slowly.

"I can trust you to stop her if she's doing it wrong?" he asked, and Lily nodded, "fine," he said, nodding at Alma, who nervously took a step back and sent Lily an encouraging look.

"Um, okay Damien, er, here we go," Lily said, taking a deep breath before starting to move her wand over his left arm. His shattering scream seemed louder than it had last time, and Lily bit her lip as she willed herself to concentrate on the arm, on her work, rather than crying about Damien's pain.

As she continued to stare at the arm, the sight slowly merged into one of hope rather than despair. She watched as the skin slowly peeled back to reveal healthier portions, flakes of the unneeded skin dropping gently under the bed and heading towards the medical waste bin. She saw the slightly less scarlet skin beneath his awful burns and felt a ray of hope warm her chest, at the new life beneath, the healing process. Perhaps she didn't need to be so scared of hurting James, perhaps it was like this burn. All she had to do was peel back a few layers of fear to see that their relationship was hopeful and healthy and leading towards normal….er, skin?

Lily was surprised to find herself forcing away a giggle at her rotten analogy. Burnt skin. Really, what was the matter with her?

Before she knew it, she'd reached his shoulder, and when the last few flakes separated from the skin, she exhaled with relief, before dropping her wand, and taking a step back from Damien. She looked back up at his face, to see that despite the tears and the traces of agony still in his expression, he was grinning at her.

"What?" she asked, looking back at his arm to make sure she had in fact done what she was supposed to.

"You did a good job," he croaked, clearing his throat, smiling again, "I like seeing people grow, must be the teacher in me," he added, and Lily beamed at him.

"I didn't know you were a teacher."

"Does it matter?" he grumbled, and Lily smiled sympathetically as she noticed he was trying to subtly wipe the tears off his face.

"I'll see you in about twenty minutes," she said, and he nodded, closing his eyes and resting his head back against the pillow. Lily looked up at Alma, who was standing shock still, eyes wide, tear stains down her cheeks, as she continued to look at Damien. As gently as she could, Lily placed her hand on Alma's arm and guided her out of there, "are you okay?" she murmured, and Alma blinked, shaking her head. For the first time since Lily met her, she was quiet, "Cromwell told me there was no shame in being upset and needing to walk away from this. She said it was one of the hardest things about being a Healer, and that it would get easier in time," Lily said, clearing her throat.

"You seemed fine," Alma whispered, and Lily released a breath of relief that she was speaking.

"I knew what to expect," Lily said, before sighing, "I'm sorry, I should have told you what to expect and what it would be like-"

"Lily, it's not your fault," Alma said, shaking her head as she closed her eyes, "I just, it was just a lot," she said finally, opening her eyes and meeting Lily's, "how did you do it?"

"I focused on the Healing," Lily said, frowning slightly, "I focused on his arm and watching the skin change than I did on my feelings," she added, "I don't really know if that makes much sense."

"I get it," Alma said, "our patient yesterday, when I was fixing his foot, I didn't even realise he was screaming because I was too busy watching magic realign it," she said, shuddering slightly, "I thought it made me a sadistic monster."

"I think it just makes you ready to do the job," Lily sighed, and Alma nodded, shaking her head quickly from side to side.

"I'm going to go read up on the spell, he's right you know, you did a good job," she said, smiling slightly, "like a proper Healer and everything."

"And you'll do the same later," Lily said, and Alma smiled, tipping her head before she headed out of the ward.

* * *

"You never help, you were so busy with Lily and your ring and your parents and her parents. You have to earn going on a field trip Prongs. You'll have to do all this reading Prongs. Not like I did anything really, but I'm Padfoot so I can go because I decided and you were too slow."

James sat on the middle of the floor in the living room in Sirius' flat, all by himself, mimicking his friends' complaints from that morning, when he'd suggested he go along with them and make it a lads trip to the beach. He was staring down at his and Sirius' pile of parchment, to see Sirius had been focusing on the Hufflepuff cup, though he'd assumed they would look for the ring first, because they could actually pinpoint where that one might be.

"There's no harm in looking for the ring," James mused, as he looked down at Sirius' well thought out plan of action, and fairly accurate (though James didn't want to consider how this was the case) map of Gringotts, "What was that town's name again?" he murmured, pulling out another piece of parchment and beginning to scribble on it, "Little Hang- something. Oh, where's that ruddy map!" he said, grabbing for the atlas Remus and Peter had been using. Flipping to the page with the map of England, James grimaced. It wasn't specific enough, where was he supposed to get a map that-

"Never mind," James sung under his breath, as he turned the pages to see that the book provided close ups into various parts of England, stopping his internal rant. Lily was always teasing him for getting too carried away with his internal rampages before even stopping to check things. The thought made James smile. He started to hum tunelessly as he flipped the pages, old-man eyes having a difficult time reading the fine print. Squinting, he brought the book closer to his face, finger gliding between the various names in small print.

"It would _help_ , if we knew what part of bloody England this stupid village was in," James grumbled, getting in even closer to the book, so his nose was practically rubbing the page. This was getting ridiculous, James decided, as he accidentally read the same word for the third time in a row.

"There's no way I can find it on this," he huffed, throwing the book onto the floor, "I can't just magically-"

James sighed. He was an idiot.

Thanking Merlin nobody else was home to witness his lapse in intelligence, he whipped out his wand, enlarging the book so it was almost as big as Remus' bed, and the town names were the length of his wand. Deciding it would probably be easiest if he vanished the names he'd already seen, and perform the counter curse before turning the page, he tapped stupid 'Camden', a word he'd read four times already at this point, feeling oddly satisfied as it disappeared.

"This is much easier, I'll find it in no time," James smirked triumphantly, as he concluded Little Hangleton was not in the South, and turning the page. Searching through the book so aggressively reminded him of when he and Lily had rampaged through library books for a project they'd done together (and dominated) for Charms.

The Head Common Room had been littered with books, to the point where there wasn't a reasonable place to step one's foot without accidentally trodding on one. Lily's research process meant she had separate areas of the room for different 'categories' of books and their usefulness to her research. They'd been researching and unable to walk through the common room properly for over a week, when he'd realized he was a good thirty books behind her. Not that it was a competition (though who was he kidding, he and Lily always competed when it came to academia). He'd been furious at her ability to get through thrice the many books he was getting through. He'd become so frustrated he'd yelled at her, saying she was cheating. She'd just rolled her eyes (as she usually did when he was being ridiculous) and said checking the index let her know whether or not the spell they were looking for was even in there. He'd shouted about indexes being unreliable and him somehow getting all the books that took thorough read-throughs to determine if the spell was in there. She'd simply quirked a brow and said, ' _James, I'm sure there's an index, did you even bother to check?'_

He'd called her a bint and stormed out. She'd ignored him most of the next day.

James grinned at the memory, before freezing as his intelligence finally caught up with him.

Hold on.

An index.

Damn.

* * *

"Fuck this cave, let's just stay here," Sirius snickered, looking around at the various groups of Muggles who were lying on the sand, playing Muggle sports and enjoying the water.

"We do deserve a holiday," Remus mused. Peter frowned at the two of them.

"Things are definitely bad when I'm the responsible one," he snorted, and Sirius smirked as Remus shook his head amusedly.

"Wormtail's right-"

"There's a phrase you don't hear very often-"

"Be nice Sirius," Remus chuckled, as Peter flipped the boy off, earning only an amused smirk, Sirius' eyes never leaving the Muggle group of girls across the beach, "We should get going, come on," he said, nodding to Wormtail, who started to head towards the rockier area of the beach. Realizing Sirius was far too distracted to have been expected to be listening, let alone to follow a direction, Remus rolled his eyes grabbed the boy's sleeve, dragging him along with him.

"Moony, really, what harm is there in just enjoying the view-"

"Don't objectify the women, Sirius," Remus tutted, and Sirius snorted, rolling his eyes as he kept pace with Remus, causing the sandy haired boy to finally release his sleeve.

"I can't have any fun with you and Lily around," Sirius grumbled, and Remus smirked as they finally caught up with Peter, who was stood on top of a tall rock, looking around.

"So which way do you think it is?" Remus asked Peter, who sighed and shrugged.

"It all looks the same to me," he huffed, and Remus rolled his eyes, shooing Peter off the rock so he could get up on it himself, "I mean, what is it we're even looking for? Rocks? It's a beach, there are rocks everywhere."

"We're looking for dangerous rocks," Sirius said, and Remus shot him a sardonic look, "No, Moony, don't look at me like that. If you remember correctly, there were tons of rocks that children would've been scared by, _and_ Harry and Dumbledore had to swim a little to get to the cave," he said, before gesturing around, "I don't know about you, but I can't see anything like that in this direction," he finished, nodding to the view in front of them. Remus grimaced and turned forwards again, looking at the smooth ocean and gentle low rocks in front of him.

"You're right," Remus sighed, sliding smoothly off the rock and landing on his feet, "now what do we do?"

"I thought you were the brains here," Sirius smirked mockingly, crossing his arms, and Remus shot him an annoyed look.

"Let's not pretend you have no brains, you just choose not to apply them properly," Remus lectured, and Sirius rolled his eyes to the heavens.

"Merlin and Morgana, not this rubbish again."

"Yes, this rubbish, Sirius," Remus huffed, and Sirius groaned, lolling his head back so it was facing up to the sky, "You've always been so busy pranking and thinking of completely ridiculous things to do that-"

"That's it!" Peter squeaked, and both Sirius and Remus shot him mingled looks of irritation, "Sirius has never thought like a normal person!"

"You know what, Wormtail-"

"No!" Peter added quickly, shaking his head as Sirius' grey eyes became stormy, cutting off his angry tirade, "It's a good thing, I swear. Listen, You-Know-Who wouldn't have just gone this way, because people would have expected that, he'd have been making trouble, and _you_ know how to make trouble," Peter said excitedly, "so which way would _you_ go if you were trying to get away from the group?"

Remus' expression twitched into a reluctant smirk, and he turned expectantly to Sirius, who looked flabbergasted. "Trouble _is_ your speciality," Remus conceded, and Sirius rolled his eyes, "which way?"

* * *

"Lily!"

Lily groaned quietly as an excitable voice yelled her name. She and Alma were on their lunch break, eating in the fifth floor tearoom after what had been a very grueling morning. They'd finished up with Damien, Alma having done a beautiful job with his torso, written up charts, and helped with some of the attack victims with more minor injuries. They were exhausted and emotionally drained at this point, and the voice calling out to Lily was, in her opinion, far too chirpy for the mood she was in. Alma sat up and looked behind Lily.

"It's that girl you were talking to yesterday, Gwenog Jones' sister," she said, smiling over Lily's shoulder and giving the girl a wave, and Lily groaned, "What, don't' you like her?"

"It's not that I don't like her," Lily whispered, "I'm just not in the mood to be nice right now."

"Well pull yourself together, she's got celebrity blood," Alma said, and Lily rolled her eyes, fighting a smirk as Hestia Jones finally got to their table.

"Do you mind if I sit with you two?" she asked, grinning toothily down at them. Lily almost felt the need to blink at how radiant the girl was. She'd dressed in a white sleeveless top, which was tucked into bright orange high-waisted trousers. She had on her feet tall black stiletto heels, and her hair looked flawless up in its' high ponytail, bangs falling lightly into her big brown eyes.

"No, of course not," Lily said, feeling hugely inferior sitting next to the woman, her hair up in a messy bun, no makeup on her face (except for her standard black mascara, thanks to her curse of red eyelashes) and an undoubtedly weary expression on her face.

"How's your sister?" Alma asked, and Hestia grinned, sitting down next to Lily, crossing one long leg over the other.

"Oh wonderful," Hestia smiled, taking a large bite out of an apple, "she's still up in one of the wards."

"I thought she just had a minor ankle issue?" Lily asked, and Hestia rolled her eyes.

"She _does_ , but my sister's always been quite a complainer," she said, "the way she's acting you'd have thought she'd lost her bloody leg." Lily giggled, and Alma bit back a laugh, shoving a large bite of pasta in her mouth, "whatever it is, I'm not complaining, _that much_ ," she added the last two words as Lily sent her an amused look, "Makes my article infinitely more interesting when it's ' _Gwenog Jones suffers terrible injury, spends two days in Mungos_ ' rather than ' _Gwenog Jones twists ankle and overreacts_ '," she snorted, and the other two laughed.

"You're a good sister," Lily giggled, shaking her head, her mood elevated with Hestia's humour, "selfless."

"I know," Hestia said, winking as she looked took a bite of her salad, "so what's new with you two? How's the training? Bet it's more glamorous than playing maid to your older sister. Honestly, I've never known anyone to need so many things all the time. 'Hest, get me a drink', 'Hest, contact my manager', 'Hest, give me your hair bobble', 'Hest, I'm a useless shit, wipe my bum for me'," she snorted, and the other two laughed, "She's making me start to hate the sound of my name, which you _know_ is not a good sign for life progressing forwards."

"Not glamorous per se, just a little more dignified," Alma sniggered, and Hestia shot her an amused look as she took another bite.

"Last night's attack must have kept you pretty busy," Hestia said, and the two girls grimaced.

"Both our patients didn't make it," Alma said sadly, and Hestia's head shot up, an alarmed expression in her suddenly watery eyes.

"Oh no! Merlin, I'm so sorry, I didn't realise, I'm so incredibly insensitive," she said, shaking her head, and Lily somehow smiled in response, despite the somber nature of the topic, "This is why I'm so rubbish at my job you know, I'm horrible at these social politics and speaking correctly," she added, and Lily grinned, "you know I was thinking of writing a piece on this attack, politically correct of course," Hestia mused. Lily bit back a smile at her end to the sentence, while Alma shrugged.

"Someone should," she said, and Hestia nodded very seriously, "I mean, you'd have lots to say on the aftermath and the brutality of the attacks, given you were here when the victims came in."

"That's what I thought," Hestia nodded, chewing on a piece of chicken as she looked at nothing in particular. Lily could practically see the wheels in her head turning, "you know, I think I'll do it," she nodded again, her long ponytail bobbing delicately, before she rolled her eyes, "that is, if I can around all my maid duties."

Alma laughed, and Lily patted Hestia comfortingly on the arm, "Stay strong."

"Thanks," Hestia snorted, before her eyes widened hugely and she looked down at Lily's hand, "Merlin's Beard!" she shouted, and Lily flushed as the entire tea room looked over at them, the Healers with disapproval and the visitors with alarm, "I swear that wasn't there yesterday," Hestia squealed excitedly, grabbing at Lily's hand and shaking it excitedly. Lily grinned, and threw an alarmed look at Alma, who was choking on her pasta in an effort to keep herself from giggling.

"It wasn't," Lily laughed, and Hestia squealed loudly again, bouncing up and down in her seat excitedly.

"Tell me _everything_! Who is it? What did he say? What did you say? When's the wedding? Can I come?" she squealed, and Lily laughed happily, smiling down at her ring, "No, most importantly, who is it? Who is he?"

"James Potter," Lily said. She'd thought she'd been prepared for Hestia's reaction, but her loud squeal made Lily wince, and look around embarrassedly. The room seemed to have gathered that Lily had just gotten engaged, given Hestia's screaming and her firm grasp on Lily's hand, and instead of irritation she saw more looks of amusement, a few congratulatory smiles sent her way.

"Merlin, Jones, could you _please_ keep it down," Alma giggled, ducking her head and looking around, "everyone's _staring_."

"They should! This is so exciting! Why didn't you _tell_ me you were seeing him?" Hestia giggled, still holding Lily's hand captive, "I even asked about him and his funny friends yesterday!"

"I was going to but then the alarm rang," Lily grinned, shaking her head and attempting to tug her hand out of Hestia's vice like grip.

"Oh, this is amazing. Here I thought you'd never go out with the poor thing," Hestia giggled madly, shaking her head and throwing Alma an amused look, "followed her around like a puppy, he did," she giggled, and Lily rolled her eyes as Alma sniggered.

"He wasn't that bad."

"I distinctly remember seeing you duck into an alcove to avoid him, once," Hestia giggled, and Alma laughed, "mind, you were just eleven at the time."

"How much older to her are you?" Alma asked, and Hestia scoffed, throwing her a chastising look.

"What a rude question, asking me my age," she sniffed, and Alma grinned, "and how is his little friend? Sirius Black? Oh I always did say if he was a few years older-"

"He's fine," Lily laughed, as Hestia's eyes glazed over dreamily, "Single."

"He had one of those bums you just knew was going to be beautiful one day," Hestia sighed, and Alma choked on her food again as Lily flushed, "is it as fabulous as I thought it would be?"

"I haven't really looked, if I'm honest," Lily said awkwardly, and Hestia giggled.

"Suppose you wouldn't, though I did predict Potter would have an excellent bum as well, was I right? Explains why you'd never need to look at Sirius," she asked, and Lily flushed deeper as Alma began to snigger.

"Er, um-"

"I'll take that as a yes," Hestia laughed happily, "Which means Sirius' is probably beautiful as well. Oh, Lily, you're so lucky," she sighed, looking back down at the ring. Lily shot Alma a pleading look, and Alma smirked, shaking her head 'no', that she wouldn't help her away from Hestia, "Oh Lily, you have to show this to Gwenog, she'll just _die._ "

"Um." Before Lily could invent an excuse as to why she couldn't go show off her ring to a stranger, Healer Cromwell's voice interrupted them.

"Oh, Lily dear, there you are," she said, looking flustered, "I need you to come down to the emergency ward, there's been another attack. Alma, I suppose you should come as well."

* * *

"Sirius, your idiocy truly surprises me sometimes," Remus sighed exasperatedly, breathing heavily as he followed Sirius up another steep rock. They'd been climbing for at least an hour, his limbs ached, he was entirely soaked, his lungs burned from the salty air, he was covered in scratches, and his nerves were shot from trying not to slip as wave after wave attacked them on the rocks.

Sirius threw him a grin over his shoulder, as he jumped onto the next rock, "Moony, it's like you're not having fun."

"I'm _not_ ," Remus grumbled, as he slid down onto the rock Sirius was now on, a few foot drop from the one he'd been on.

"Seen Wormtail?" Sirius asked nonchalantly, looking around at their terrifying surroundings. They were on what seemed like a serpent of sharp, jagged, uneven, blackened rocks, heading deeper into the ocean, "he's not died has he?"

"Unfortunately not," Peter wheezed, as he appeared on the rock Remus had been on, his face bright red from exertion, "Dying would be better than this rubbish," he said, angrily eying the drop to Sirius' rock, "how much further?"

"I don't know mate, I'm following my trouble making instincts," Sirius sniggered, "it _was_ your idea."

"I hate myself," Peter grumbled, going to make the drop.

"No wait!" Remus squawked, stopping him before he could come closer, "There's not enough space, wait for Sirius to go first," he said, and Peter shrugged, taking a seat. Remus rolled his eyes, "I'm surprised I haven't combusted yet," he grumbled, and Sirius shot him a smirk.

"Onwards lads," he said, and Remus groaned, covering his face.

"Sirius, we're going too far, I doubt those kids would have been able to make it all the way-"

"I think that's it," Sirius cut in, pointing at a larger rock in the distance, "It's like a mountain, that has to be it."

"It's not a mountain," Peter scoffed, and Sirius rolled his eyes.

"That was so not the point, Wormtail," he snorted, and Peter grumbled angrily as Sirius made a truly spectacular jump onto a rock a couple meters away, "come on, children."

"Sirius I don't want to go further, we'll never make it back before nightfall," Remus near-whined, and Sirius' responding snort could be heard over the sounds of the waves, which chose that moment to crash onto Remus' rock, drenching him and Peter again. Peter let out a muttered expletive, wincing as the salt water burned at the cuts on his legs, as Sirius roared with laughter.

"We'll apparate home Moony, not to worry," he sniggered, watching as Remus wrung out the bottom of his shirt again, frowning angrily, "Let's get a move on lads!"

"I hate those damn words. I hate him," Peter said, and Remus snorted in agreement, taking a deep breath before launching himself at the next rock.

* * *

" _Another_ one?" Alma sputtered, as she and Lily quickly followed after Healer Cromwell, who was walking at an abnormally quick pace. They'd jumped up and thrown a very worried Hestia quick waves, before making their way after the maternal Healer, who'd been out of the tearoom before they'd left the table.

"How come there wasn't an alarm?" Lily asked, surprised that Healer Cromwell was paying attention when her answer reached her.

"Very minor, only two victims," she said, and Alma frowned.

"An attack is an attack, minor or not," she grumbled, and Lily sent her a sympathetic grimace. The got into the emergency ward, Lily shuddering at the memory of what the place had looked like the night before. It was spotless now, but too sterile, and Lily shivered realizing how much cleaning must have been needed following all the blood spatter the previous day. Alma squeezed her shoulder supportively, before dragging her forwards.

Lily exhaled in relief as one of the victims came into view. Though obviously terrified, hysterical and teary, there was no obvious physical trauma that she could see. That was, until she took a look to the right, where a sheet covered a dead body, the sheet almost completely scarlet. Alma froze as well, staring at the sheet-covered corpse, her mouth open in shock.

"We don't know her name," Healer Cromwell said, nodding her head at the hysterical screaming woman on the bed. She wouldn't let them close enough, screaming louder and lashing out whenever any of the Healers around her tried to get close enough to check her, "she's not let anyone near her, so we don't know who she is and what happened," she said, and Lily frowned, turning to look at the dead body.

"Who brought them here? Wouldn't they know?" Alma asked, and the Healer grimaced.

"She showed up in the reception holding her friends' dead body a few minutes ago, screaming," she said, closing her eyes and shaking her head sadly, "A lot of calming draughts have had to be administered to the people who were in the reception at the time," she said, wincing, "the body was, well, it was in a bad state," she finished, looking sadly at the sheet. Lily blinked quickly, as she regarded the screaming woman sadly.

"How do we know it was an attack?" Lily asked, and Cromwell sighed.

"Her screaming was very incoherent, but we did manage to catch 'Death Eater' and 'Imperius'," she said, and Lily paled.

"What, the Imperius Curse?" Lily said, alarmed, quickly looking between the screaming woman and the dead body, "You're not saying, I mean, it's not looking like she did this, is it?" she said, feeling a bit queasy as she looked closer at the woman's hands, to see that they were, in fact, covered in blood, and her clothes were littered with scarlet droplets; Lily had assumed they were just a polka dot design at first.

"Until we find out the story, that's what the belief is, yes," Cromwell said somberly, before turning to face Alma and Lily, both of whom looked horrified, "I need you to help," she said, and they nodded quickly, their eyes avoiding the screaming woman and focusing on Cromwell instead, "she's closer to your age, and we think she might respond better to people she could relate to," she said, and the two girls exchanged a worried look, "just approach her slowly and speak in calm voices. Given her state, I don't think she's got any curse damage, so I've got to go back up to the victims of yesterday, these are Healers Liam and Dave," she said, nodding at the two Junior Healers, who nodded back at the two girls, "they'll do the medical work required, you two can stay and observe if you would like to do so, if not, or when you're done here, come up to the ward, I could use your help with a few more patients," she said, before shooting another sad look at the woman, and heading out of the ward. The Junior Healers gestured for Lily and Alma to move towards the woman, and took a step back, giving them the room to do so. She was still screaming, sobbing loudly as her hands wrapped around her own torso, rocking back and forth.

"If you can't get through to her, try and get her arms under control so we can get close enough to calm her," the first Healer, Liam, said, and the two of them nodded.

"Hi," Lily said gently, after shooting Alma a panicked look, "my name is Lily," she said, taking a careful step towards the woman. The Junior Healers looked like they'd taken a few beatings from her, so Lily paused, waiting to see if the woman would attack her, "what's your name?" The woman's arm flew out and just barely missed Lily, who managed to take step back just in time. Alma took a step forwards while the woman was distracted, a little closer than Lily was, and the woman's head shot up, her arm flying out. Alma was unfortunately not quick enough, and her arm managed to hit her, full force, in the nose. Alma staggered backwards, hand covering her face, before she instinctually grabbed the woman's flying arm, which was making its' way to her face again, and held it down in a stern grip. The woman's other arm flew up and Lily managed to grab that before it connected to Alma again, holding her wrist in a vice like grip. One of the Junior Healers hurried over, whipping out his wand and binding the woman's wrists. Lily looked down and noticed that Healer Dave was binding her ankles.

Lily hurried over to Alma, who had taken a step back and was holding her nose, grabbing her elbow and leading her to a chair, pushing her down on it. The Junior Healers had forgotten about them, and now that the woman had stopped fighting, they managed to force some calming draught down her throat. She took a big sniff, and her screams stopped, turning instead into loud sobs, and one of the Junior Healers began to run his wand over the woman's body, checking for injury, while the one who had bound her wrists spoke to her, gently placing his hand on her back and guiding her so she was lying down.

"Are you all right?" Lily asked Alma, who groaned but nodded all the same.

"Fucking system, this is why they wanted trainees in here," she muttered angrily, and Lily let out a shocked laugh.

"And here I thought you were hurt," Lily chuckled, "Move your hand, I'll fix it." Alma lowered her hand and Lily almost winced, "it looks broken."

"It is," Alma grumbled, wincing as she tried to take a breath in, "I felt the crack when her stupid knuckle collided with my face. I underestimated how strong she was," she added, and Lily smiled.

"Okay, ready?" she said, and Alma closed her eyes, clenching her fists on the chair beside her thighs as Lily raised her wand and said ' _Episkey_ '

"Bloody fucking _ow_!" Alma cursed, as her nose snapped back into place. Lily clucked her tongue, vanishing the blood off Alma's face and robes.

"Language."

"Fuck you," Alma scoffed, and Lily smiled, holding out her hand and helping the girl up. Alma swayed a little.

"All right?"

"Yeah, just a little dizzy, it'll pass," Alma said, and Lily nodded gently, placing her hand on Alma's shoulder and keeping her steady as they turned to observe.

"Ma'am, could you tell us what happened?" Liam was saying, and the woman sobbed harder.

"They came out of nowhere, there were two of them, they thought it was a game," she sobbed, shaking her head, "I couldn't stop it, they put the Imperius Curse on me, and I tried to fight it, but I couldn't and they bound Rhian and made me-" her sobs were coming out so aggressively she could no longer speak, "they said it was fun," she managed to choke out.

Alma turned and stormed out of the ward, furious, and after a queasy glance at the sheet, Lily followed after.

* * *

"Told you I'd find it," Sirius smirked, and Peter rolled his eyes.

"Actually _I_ -"

"That's enough out of you Wormtail," Sirius scoffed, waving off his comment. Remus rolled his eyes at Peter, who smirked back at him. They were standing on a large rock, across a small stretch of water from a small cave.

"Are you sure that's the right one?" Remus sighed, looking at the daunting mouth of the cave, "I mean, the guy said there were many caves in the area."

"I can't imagine tourists coming all the way out here," Sirius snorted, "I mean, look at the state of us," he said. Remus did, and sighed as he realized Sirius was right. All three of them were covered in scratches, Remus' own palms looking more like he'd sharpened a knife on them, their clothes were torn or ripped in various place and their shoe soles were tattered. Remus could actually see one of Peter's toes through a hole on the side of his shoe.

"You're probably right, and I reckon that fucking trek would've done enough to scare those kids shitless," Remus conceded, and Peter grimaced, looking back the way they'd come.

"Are we going to have to swim there?" Peter asked after a few moments of silence, a slight whine in his voice, and Remus grimaced as Sirius sighed.

"Looks like it," Sirius grumbled, before stretching his arms above his head, "Come on, let's get this over with."

With that, Sirius launched himself into the water in a spectacular dive. After a few moments, his head resurfaced a few feet away from them, " _FUCK_ it's _freezing_!" he shouted, and Remus groaned, watching as Sirius continued to swim, shouting expletives the whole way.

"Come on Pete," Remus sighed, closing his eyes and jumping in. The water was like a thousand knives, Remus gasped as he attempted to breathe, but it felt like his entire torso was frozen. There was a splash behind him, and soon he heard Peter's squeak of discomfort, as the three of them paddled their way to the cave. The swim was longer than he'd expected, and Remus winced as he suddenly slammed his knee into something hard. Looking ahead, he saw that Sirius was starting to crawl. Muttering angrily, Remus pushed himself up to his feet, and walked into the cave, "Bugger that hurt," he grumbled, sitting down and caressing his knee, on which there was now a large cut.

"Moony, why is it always you?" Peter stuttered, teeth chattering as he curled up on the rock, pulling his knees into his chest to preserve warmth. Sirius waved his wand, drying the three of them, and Peter sent him a grateful look.

"The fuck have you done now?" Sirius groaned, walking over to Remus. Remus shot him an annoyed look.

"You know, some sympathy would be preferable. Besides it's no big deal, I just wasn't expecting that rock."

"Oh, yeah," Sirius snorted, rubbing at his own leg, "I knocked it too. Don't worry, Lily'll heal it when we get home," he said, and Remus chuckled, allowing Sirius to help him to his feet, "can you walk?"

"Yeah, doesn't hurt," Remus said, and Sirius nodded, before gesturing for Peter to follow. The cave had a low ceiling, the walls were blackened like the rocks outside, making the inside so dark it was difficult to tell where the walls were, as if they were caving in around them.

" _Lumos_ ," Remus smiled gratefully as Peter lit his wand, illuminating the small space. The cave couldn't have been more than 3 meters in diameter, and Sirius looked around, frowning.

"I don't see anything," he said, and Remus rolled his eyes.

"You can't see magic with the naked eye, Sirius."

"I know, but it just doesn't feel right," he said, and Remus frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know, like there's nothing here, or something," Sirius shrugged, and Remus shook his head.

"You're being ridiculous, we'll find it," he said, pulling out his bag. He'd shrunk it down and put a shield charm around it so it wouldn't be affected by any water, and placed it in his pocket two minutes into the trek, after the first time they were hit with a wave. He returned it to its' normal size, before removing the shield charm and pulling out the piece of parchment, "Here, try these spells to reveal magic," he said, and the other two sighed, before they made their way through the list.

* * *

"For _fun_ ," Alma spat, and Lily nodded sympathetically. Alma had stormed into the small courtyard behind Mungos, where they took patients on walks, "They made her kill her friend for _sport_ , Lily, it's _disgusting_ , I don't, I can't even-"

"I know," Lily said sadly, "it's horrible."

"I mean, did you _see_ how red that sheet was? Whatever they made her do must have been, it must have been-"

"Brutal, I know," Lily sighed, closing her eyes and shaking her head slightly, "it's a gruesome time to be training as a Healer right now."

"You can say that again," Alma snorted, wiping at a few tears, "I just, I can't understand why the world is so horrible right now."

"There's no explanation," Lily said gently, "All we can really do is help in any way we can."

"I hate this," Alma sniffed, "I'm sick of attacks. I'm sick of seeing death wherever I look. I'm sick of it all," she said angrily, and Lily nodded, reaching for Alma's hand and squeezing it.

"Me too."

* * *

"So these are all rubbish," Peter said, snorting as Remus tried the last of the list of spells, only for nothing to happen.

"They're not _rubbish_ Peter," Remus said, shooting him an annoyed look, "they're really advanced and practical and-"

"Yes, okay Professor, but they haven't worked," Sirius said, rolling his eyes at Remus' constant need to be a teacher, "Lily did say he may have put on a charm or spell or something to make sure they didn't work," Sirius added, and Peter grumbled.

"Then what do we do?"

"Remus?" Sirius asked, turning to the sandy haired boy, who sighed, rubbing at his temples.

"I mean, I could try rubbing my blood against all the walls," he said, gesturing down to the knee, and Sirius grimaced.

"How about we make that our last resort?" he said, shooting a disgusted look at the walls, "might make you sicker if you rub that thing against these walls."

"Sirius, isn't this the last resort anyway?" Remus asked, quirking a brow, "Or can you think of something else?"

"You know, I read once that dogs had sharper senses than humans," Peter piped up, and they both turned to look at him quizzically.

"You can read?"

"Padfoot, shut up," Remus sighed, shoving at the now smirking Sirius, "what do you mean Pete?"

"Just that, I don't know, maybe animals can sense these things better?" he suggested, "I know rats are rubbish at it, I can barely sense a thing when I turn, but dogs aren't like that," he said, looking pointedly at Sirius, who sighed.

Sirius closed his eyes, and within seconds a large black dog stood in his place. Remus watched as Sirius ran around the cave, sniffing at various points, looking up at the ceiling, before the human Sirius was in front of him again.

"If there is something here I can't see it," Sirius said, frowning around at the cave, before sighing, "Moony I think it might be time for your blood plan." Remus grimaced again, before stumbling over to the walls, "Wait, just, hold on," Sirius said, as Remus raised his leg. He whipped out his wand, " _Scourgify!_ Okay, there, just only put your knee on the part I've cleaned, yeah?"

"Oh Padfoot, it's like you care," Remus said, throwing a smarmy grin at Sirius, who rolled his eyes, trying to ignore Peter's smirk as well.

"Just press your fucking knee to the wall."

* * *

James had decided there were worse things than being left alone in the flat all day. He'd already located the village of Little Hangleton, and researched advanced spells used to break down protective shields, coming up with a long list of ones they could try on the crumbled Gaunt shack. Having gotten bored of reading, he had decided it would be useful to them all to have a chronology written out, of when they suspect You-Know-Who to have made all his Horcruxes, so they would be able to make sure they weren't looking for any there weren't going to find.

Admiring his handiwork, and his rather impressive stack of parchments covered in his own messy scrawl, James felt a rush of pride realising he'd found this Horcrux completely by himself. Realizing there was nothing more he could do about the locket without visiting the village, which he wouldn't do until Sirius was back, he placed the stack next to Sirius' on the shelf, smiling to himself when he realized his was the biggest of the three stacks of parchment.

James sighed and read through his chronology of Horcruxes once more:

 _Ring while in school: Gaunt shack_

 _Diary while in school: where is it?_

 _Cup closely after graduating: Gringotts vault?_

 _Diadem when applied for job: should be in Hogwarts_

 _Locket put in cave: Regulus hasn't removed it yet_

 _Nagini: no_

 _Harry: no_

As he was reading through it once more, he heard Sirius' voice calling from his pocket. With an eye roll, he pulled it out, calling Sirius' name, to see the boy in question looking very flustered.

"What's the matter?" James asked, frowning, and Sirius groaned loudly.

"It's not fucking here Prongs. The spells didn't work, Padfoot the dog couldn't see any magic, _and_ Moony's just gone and rubbed his bloody knee all over the walls and nothing's happened," Sirius said loudly, looking furious, "I mean, did we do something wrong?"

"Remus' knee? What difference would that make?" James scoffed, and Sirius rolled his eyes as he heard Remus call 'it's bleeding' in the background, "Oh, well, that's not good," he frowned, "so it's not there?"

" _No_ , I don't understand-"

"Hold on," James frowned, eyes flickering back to his chronology, "Sirius, Reg is still alive isn't he?"

"The fuck kind of question is that?" Sirius asked, eyes blazing furiously, but James noticed the flash of worry and fear in them, "Course he's alive. He's still at Hogwarts for shits sake."

James groaned as he hit himself in the forehead, "Mate, we fucked up," James said, "Reg dies a few days after the locket's put in there remember?" he said, and Sirius frowned. James heard Remus' groan of realization in the background, "Reg isn't a proper Death Eater yet, so You-Know-Who hasn't borrowed Kreacher for the cave yet," James said, and Sirius swore.

"It's not here yet!" he growled, slamming his hand into the wall of the cave, "Oh, for fucks sake!"

"Prongs, why didn't you tell us?" Remus called, and James huffed.

"I didn't do this on purpose, I only just realized it. I made a chronology of when the Horcruxes were made and where they probably are right now, it only just occurred to me that Reg hadn't removed it, I forgot he was even involved," James groaned, and Sirius let out an exaggerated sigh.

"We just wasted the whole fucking day. The _whole_ day. Okay, we're coming home now mate. Come on Moony, get up. Wormtail, Scourgify Moony's blood off the walls. Come on lads, let's get a-"

"Sirius, I swear if you tell us to get a move on _one more time_ today-"

James snorted at Remus' words as the mirror cut off. They may have wasted the day, but at least he'd made up for it, he thought, smirking at his stack of parchment again.

* * *

"Lily! Thank Merlin you're back!"

Lily blinked as the state of the flat registered in her mind. Remus was lying on his bed, his knee propped up on a pillow. Peter was hissing as he dabbed dittany on himself. Sirius was pacing angrily.

And James was sitting on the floor with a faintly smug look on his face.

"What the hell happened?" Lily asked, eyeing the scratches on Sirius, Peter and Remus, and the large purpled bruise around a gash on Remus' knee. It was very late, closing in on eleven now. She'd only just apparated home from Mungos after a grueling shift, as she and Alma had spent hours helping the Healers heal and discharge the victims of the previous days attacks, so they could start off the next day with a clean slate.

"The cave didn't go as planned," Remus grumbled, eyes still closed as he lay flat on the bed, "can you fix my knee?"

"Y-yes, of course I can," Lily said, pulling out her wand and hurrying forwards, "What happened at the cave?"

"Nothing," Sirius said bluntly, and Lily frowned, "Literally nothing, locket isn't there yet."

"Prongs figured out we were too stupid to remember that Regulus was a Death Eater and had leant You-Know-Who Kreacher for the locket placement," Remus said, and Lily's eyes widened.

"So it's not there yet," she sighed, shaking her head as she finished healing the gash, and cleaned off the bruises on Remus' knee, "that's such a pain, and you all look like hell."

"Thanks," Peter snorted, "the trek to the cave was bloody painful."

"And long," Remus added, and Lily sighed, patting Remus' knee gently before going about healing all his scrapes.

"When did you learn to do that?" James asked, watching as the scratches on Remus' legs closed up, as if they'd never been there.

"You know, I _am_ training to be a Healer," Lily winked, and James rolled his eyes as Remus snorted in amusement. Sirius sat down next to Remus and held his hands out for Lily, who smiled at him adoringly before healing his palms, "all better," she said, patting his cheek, and Sirius released reluctant chuckle.

"It's supremely useful that Lily's training to be a Healer while we're on this mission," Remus sighed, sitting up and looking at his now flawless knee. He bent it and grinned with relief when there wasn't even a twinge of pain.

"You're welcome," Lily giggled, as she healed Peters' scrapes.

"How was your day?" James asked, grinning at Lily, who grinned and, having finished healing a very grateful Peter, went over to seat herself on James' lap, tucking her head under his chin and sighing.

"Long, I've been on my feet _all_ day, it was just so crazy," she yawned, and James grinned, wrapping his arms around her and hugging her to him. His eyes met Remus', and he grinned as the werewolf rolled his eyes, amused.

"Why was it crazy?" Sirius asked, and Lily sighed again, cuddling herself more firmly against James.

"There was another attack, Death Eaters Imperiused this poor woman and made her kill her friend _for fun_ ," Lily finished with disgust, and the boys snorted, Sirius shaking his head angrily, "she wouldn't stop fighting everyone and ended up breaking Alma's nose."

"Merlin, she okay?" Remus asked, and Lily nodded.

"Yes, I fixed her up, she's fine, but then after that we spent hours just clearing all the victims of yesterday's attack."

James hummed, kissing her quickly on the forehead, "I was wondering when you were coming back."

"I know, it's late," she yawned, and James grinned down at her, "And I'm so sleepy. Alma was wondering if you would come storming in to see if I was ever coming back. Said you might panic that I'd changed my mind about marrying you," she added, and James shook his head amusedly as the other three laughed.

"I like her," Sirius sniggered, his mood having lifted at Lily's mere presence, "She has Prongs down to a T"

"What does that even mean?" Lily giggled, and Sirius shrugged, smirking back at her, "Oh, Hestia Jones says hi," she said, laughing again as Sirius' eyes widened comically.

" _What_? You know Hestia Jones?"

"She wouldn't leave me alone today," Lily said, shaking her head as James laughed, "kept wanting to talk about wedding planning."

"I didn't know you were friends," James murmured, and Lily rolled her eyes

"I barely know her. Her sister came in yesterday-"

"You met GWENOG JONES? _The_ Gwenog Jones? Of the Holyhead Harpies?" Peter squawked, jerking into a seated position and staring open-mouthed at Lily, who grinned.

"Wormtail had pictures of her hidden under his pillow," Sirius said, ducking as Peter's pillow came flying at him, "said she was probably the most _perfect_ woman on the planet."

"Apparently she's a real complainer," Lily giggled, and Remus smirked as Peter scoffed disbelievingly.

"She's hurt."

"She's being overdramatic," Lily giggled, and Peter scoffed again, crossing his arms and turning away from her as the others laughed.

"Back to the original topic," Sirius said excitedly, grinning at Lily, "Hestia Jones asked about me? What did she say? What did you say?"

"That you were single," Lily yawned, and Sirius sniggered.

"Excellent. She's so fit."

"Yes, she is _beautiful_ ," Lily said, emphasizing the word 'beautiful', and James snickered as Sirius sent Lily an amused look.

"Lily doesn't like the word fit," James stage-whispered, and Lily rolled her eyes.

"It makes no sense. It's what you say when someone is in good shape."

"You saying her shape isn't good?" Sirius asked, and Lily rolled her eyes as the three boys sniggered and buried her face into James' shoulder.

"I don't want to be around him anymore," she whined, and James smirked, kissing her temple again as the boys sniggered some more.

"Did she say anything else about me?"

"She asked if you had a nice bum," Lily said, and James laughed. Sirius suddenly adopted a very serious expression.

"And?"

"I said I hadn't checked," Lily said. Sirius smirked wolfishly.

"Well, here, I'll fix that," eh said, turning around, and Lily squeaked, hiding her face in James' shoulder as Sirius backed up, so his bum was closer to her face, "Thoughts?"

"That nobody wants to see that," Lily's muffled voice sounded, and Sirius smirked, turning around and taking a few steps back as Remus and Peter laughed. Lily lifted her head slightly to look around, making sure it was safe, and James grinned down at her.

"Great answer, love."

"Thought you'd like that," Lily giggled.

"I'll just have to figure out how to show it to Hestia herself sometime," Sirius said, nodding his head and clapping his hands.

"You could just moon her," Remus said, and Sirius shot him a disgusted look as the other four laughed.

"What did you do today?" Lily asked, cutting off the inevitable speech Sirius would give about being insulted, looking up at James, who grinned as Remus rolled his eyes.

"He found out where the ring was," he grumbled, and Lily's head shot off James' shoulder to look at his face.

"You did? All by yourself?" she said excitedly, and he winked, laughing as she hugged her arms around his neck, "Like, you know where in the country and everything?"

"Yup, used the index, I did," James said with a wink, and Lily's eyes twinkled with amusement as the memory of their Charms project came back to her as well.

"It wouldn't have been that hard, he already knew what the village was called," Sirius grumbled, and James winked at his sour expression.

"It's okay mate, at least Hestia Jones cares about your bum."

"Yes, at least there's that," Sirius grinned.

* * *

"Lily and Alma laughed as Hestia walked into the tearoom the next day, a disgruntled expression on her outrageously gorgeous face. Despite her irritation, she looked impeccable. She was in a bright pink skin-tight dress, large heels with legs to go on for miles, and had on a simple white lace throw. Heads turned as Hestia made their way to the two Healer Trainees, and threw herself onto the bench beside Alma with a manly grunt.

"Wow," Alma snorted, as Hestia crossed her arms and dropped her forehead to the table.

"What's the matter?" Lily asked, biting back a smile, and Hestia groaned loudly.

"It's my sister. I fucking _hate_ her," she moaned, and the two girls laughed, "It's not funny!" she squawked, sitting up straight to glare at the other two, who giggled harder at the red patch on her forehead from where it had rested against the table, "She's getting discharged today, thank Merlin, but decided to mention she would need a few days to recover, you know, from her _non-injury_ ," Lily and Alma smirked as Hestia rolled her eyes, her voice dripping in disdain, "and she told her _coach_ that _maybe_ she should go stay with her little sister _Hestia_ because then _Hestia_ could look after her. I am done, I'm quitting life _right now_ , it's not worth living," she finished theatrically, before dropping her head back down to the table.

"Someone is a tad dramatic today," Lily giggled, sharing an amused look with Alma, who was watching Hestia's act with interest, as she ate a bag of crisps.

"You'd be too if you were in for a few days of _torture_ in the _prison_ that was once your home," she grumbled, sitting upright and pushing her hair, which she had chosen to leave open today, back.

"Think of how much it'll help with Quidditch articles?" Alma suggested, smirking. Lily bit her lip and ducked her head as Hestia slowly turned to glare at Alma.

"I'd rather write about _cauldrons_ ," Hestia sneered, and the two girls laughed as Hestia scoffed, tossing her long hair over her shoulders. She looked up towards the doorway and her expression shifted, "oh my _Merlin,_ who is _that_?"

Lily turned and felt her jaw drop as none other than Sirius bloody Black strolled casually into the tearoom, hands in pockets, his trademark smirk in place. His dark gray eyes scanned the room languidly, before spotting Lily's red head, and across from her, Hestia Jones. He met Lily's eye and smirked, and she rolled hers, letting out a loud groan as she turned around, dropping her face in her hands.

"You know him, Lily?" Alma asked, as her eyes wandered over the very attractive boy who was making their way towards them. It seemed to click in Hestia's mind just who the boy was, and she adopted an amused and blatantly interested expression.

"Lily darling, there you are," Sirius drawled, throwing himself onto the seat next to Lily, appropriately placed across from Hestia, "I've been looking everywhere."

"Can't have been looking that hard if you found us in the tearoom at lunchtime," Lily bit back, shooting him a dirty look. As usual, he simply smirked at her, before turning to throw a charming smile at the ladies across the table.

"Aren't you going to introduce me?" he asked innocently, and Lily glared at the lecherous look in his eyes as he winked at Hestia, who was smiling seductively at him.

"Alma, Hestia, this is my idiot roommate Sirius," she said, and Sirius smirked, winked at Alma, who now looked a little more than disgusted at his behaviour, and ignoring Lily's jibe, reached out to take Hestia's hand, and drop a big kiss on it. Lily held back the urge to gag as Hestia started to giggle all girlishly and Sirius said something revolting and cheesy.

"Where have you been all my life?"

"Mine's been longer, you're late," Hestia said, winking at Sirius, who smirked.

"What, don't remember me Jones?"

"How could I forget you Black," she laughed, still holding onto Sirius' hand. Alma rolled her eyes at Lily as she reached for another crisp. Lily simply grinned at her, "Want something?" Hestia asked, batting her eyelashes, and Sirius shot her a full-blown-Sirius-Black smile.

"Surprise me," he said in a low voice, with a wink, and Hestia smirked, pushing herself up and sauntering over to the drinks table. Lily almost sniggered as she noticed Hestia was swaying her hips more than usual. Alma simply looked disgusted.

"I cannot be expected to eat anymore," Alma snorted, rolling her eyes as Sirius watched Hestia's retreating figure with unguarded interest plastered all over his face. Sirius turned to quirk a brow at Alma, who ignored him, "back to work?"

"Yes please," Lily giggled. She made to move but Sirius draped his big heavy arm around her shoulders, pulling her into his side.

"Lily! You can't go, I've come to visit you at work, isn't that what best mates do?"

"No," she snorted, attempting to get out from under Sirius' arm, but he held tighter, grinning as she pushed at his chest. Hestia had made her way back to the table, looking a little put out that Sirius was more busy irritating Lily than he was watching her, "Sirius, let go, I work here!"

"Lily, really, I don't think it's very fair that you're abandoning me like this. Even when I come with news from James."

"Well if you'd said that, I would have been more inclined to stay," Lily finally managed to escape his entrapment, and smoothed out her hair. Sirius threw Hestia a wink, and she grinned as she sunk down on the bench across from him, "So?"

"So what?" Sirius asked, throwing her an infuriatingly amused look, and she narrowed her eyes at him.

"Sirius, what did James say?"

"Really Lily, it's like you're only friends with me because of James," Sirius said, and Lily smirked, causing him to roll his eyes, "Okay, I see how it is. The news is that you two have dinner plans, some sort of plan to spend more time together or something? I don't know, I wasn't paying attention," he said, and Lily rolled her eyes, pushing herself off the table. Alma jumped up, wanting to escape the disgusting display of flirtation that would undoubtedly begin the second Sirius and Hestia started to converse again.

"Hardly an urgent message, he could have just told me himself when I got home," Lily huffed, and Sirius smirked up at her.

"Who said I was sent to deliver the message?"

"You're a pig, Sirius, I know why you're here," Lily hissed at him, quietly enough that Hestia wouldn't hear. Alma heard, and rolled her eyes, picking up her food tray.

"Then you better get going," he winked, "Ta, Evans!"

"Ta, Sirius," Lily snorted. Sirius turned his head to Alma, and nodded at her, throwing her his signature wink.

"Ta, Alma."

Alma nodded back, accompanying it with a sarcastic brow lift, and headed towards the tray disposal area. Lily noticed a flash of indignant irritation cross Sirius' face, before it dissolved into completely ridiculously overdone affection as he grinned at Hestia.

* * *

"I don't know how you stand him," Alma snorted, as she and Lily completed charts later that evening in the library, "I mean, no offence, I know he's your mate and all, but he's a-"

"Pig, yes, I know," Lily chuckled, nodding as Alma rolled her eyes, "I can't help but love him though, he pulls you in and never lets go."

"I'm sure he's nice and all, as your mate," Alma added, a small grin on her face, "seemed like you two were very close when you were fighting earlier. But he's exactly the kind of guy I avoid, in life, in general. I don't like the whole idea of seduction being a challenge, or a game, and the blatant vomit-inducing flirtations. Especially when they're genetically gifted and know it. Like, I get it, please put your penis away, don't rub it against me, thanks," she snorted, and Lily laughed.

"You're right, he's like that with women. But Hestia's a special case, first ever crush and all," she giggled, and Alma snorted.

"Doesn't surprise me. Boys who look like that _always_ like girls who look like her," she said, and Lily laughed, nodding her head.

"She is ridiculously gorgeous."

"I have _never_ seen anyone look so put together all the time," Alma added, shaking her head amusedly, and Lily giggled, "looks exhausting if you ask me."

"She has the time to, and I think it's also part of her job to look a certain way, I mean, she's photographed and she has to coerce interviews out of people," Lily reasoned, and Alma smirked.

"What kind of coercion are we talking here?" she sniggered, wagging her brows, and Lily rolled her eyes, fighting a smile as she shoved Alma in the shoulder, "really Evans, is _that_ why you suggested an article on the attack? Want some coercion from Hestia?"

"You're such a pain, honestly, how have I not gone insane already with people like you and Sirius in my life," Lily grumbled, and Alma sniggered as she went back to writing.

"We're very coercive people," she sniggered, and Lily laughed, shoving her again as the girl continued to snigger.

"You may not like him but you're almost as annoying as he is," Lily said, and Alma threw her an annoyed look.

"There's no need to insult me so," she scoffed, and Lily bit her lip, grinning as Alma grumbled about pigs and men and the patriarchy and who even _has_ grey eyes.

"Sure you're not just angry out of sexual frustration, Alma?" Lily asked, and Alma rolled her eyes.

"Please Evans, he's hot, I'll admit, I'd be an idiot not to notice that. But am I interested? No, no thank you," she snorted, and Lily grinned.

"I think thou doth protest too much."

"I think thou doth read too much into situations," Alma snorted, and Lily laughed, "Truly Lily, all jokes aside, I'm not interested," she said, and Lily grinned, "Hestia can have him."

"Doubt you'll ever get him even if you did want him, with Hestia wrapping him around her finger," Lily giggled, and Alma laughed.

"I think you mean wrapping her legs-"

"Alma," Lily squeaked, and Alma laughed, shaking her head as she uncorked the next vial.

"Introduce me to Remus and maybe _my_ legs-"

"Alma!"

* * *

"I am so sick of them forgetting that damn charm," Remus grumbled angrily, as the orchestra of moans and groans reached his ears, "I'm going to slap Prongs."

It was early the next morning, and the boys had decided to go inspect the village of Little Hangleton during the day while Lily was at training, so they could get an idea of the spells and equipment they might need for the actual extraction of the ring. If the mission went successfully, Lily would accompany them the next day, as it was a Saturday, and they'd bring the thing back. Lily was to be leaving for work in ten minutes, which was when they'd decided they would take off as well.

"A slap? Merlin Moony, that's intense," Peter sniggered, waving his wand and putting up a Silencing Charm for the couple, "Will you make it a really big one? With dramatics? Make it backhanded, those are always the most entertaining," he continued to snigger, and Remus rolled his eyes, turning the page of his book.

"Can't even go yell at him because he's all smug about finding that stupid village," Remus snorted, and Peter sniggered.

They jumped as the front door opened, and James walked in.

" _What_?" Peter squeaked, and the boy frowned as he noticed Remus' bewildered expression and Peter's squeaky disbelief.

"What what?" James asked, quirking a brow, and Peter looked at Remus

"What are you doing there?" Remus asked, looking alarmed, "Is Lily-?" Remus trailed off, shooting the bedrooms an alarmed look as he realised who the only other people in the flat were. But no, surely not, Sirius would _never_ -

"Is Lily what?" Lily asked, following James into the flat, exchanging a confused look with James as Remus let out a large breath of relief, and Peter sagged over gratefully, obviously having reached the same conclusion as Remus.

"Where were you? We thought you were _here_?" Remus demanded, and Lily frowned.

"Aren't you two being a little dramatic? I think we're old enough to go buy food without letting you know," she said, and James guffawed in agreement, taking the bags from Lily and placing them on the table beside his.

" _No_ , it's not, that's not, I mean," Remus continued, frowning as he kept turning to look in the direction of the bedrooms.

"What's this?" James asked, cutting off Remus' sputters and looking down at the envelope on the table, and Remus shrugged, turning another page in his book.

"Came for Lily a few minutes ago," he said, exchanging a look with Peter as they both frowned at the bedrooms. Lily reached forwards and opened the flap of the envelope, before squealing loudly, causing the three boys to jump.

"For Merlin's sake, there's no need-"

"Oh _Merlin_ , oh _James_!" Lily squealed excitedly, cutting off the very irritated Remus, "James! Look!" she said excitedly, waving the parchment in his face. James shot an alarmed look at Remus and Peter, both of whom were smirking.

"What is the matter with you?" James snorted, attempting to grab the parchment but Lily held it out of his reach, dancing from foot to foot as she read through it again.

"It's from _Alice_!" she said excitedly, beaming at James, who quirked a brow at her, "It's an invite to her wedding, she's getting _married_!"

"So are you," Remus snorted, and James chuckled, shaking his head as Lily continued to squeal, "I hope Alice reacted like this."

"She sent four parchments of words, I'll have you know," Lily scoffed, and James grinned as he watched her beam down at the invitation, "It's next month!"

"That's soon," Peter snorted, and Lily shrugged. James frowned as Remus continued to shoot looks towards the bedroom, a confused expression on his usually calm face.

"Suppose it has to be, when you don't know when you're going to die," she mused, and James rolled his eyes.

"She says that, but not once has she brought up _our_ potential wedding dates," he said, and Lily waved him off as Remus grinned, before shooting another curious look at the bedrooms, "What is the matter with you anyway? Why are you two acting so strange?" James asked, and Lily looked up from her invite at Peter and Remus' fairly squeamish expressions.

"If you're out here, who's having sex in there?" Peter asked, pointing his wand towards the bedrooms. Lily and James raised their brows, their heads turning towards the bedrooms. After a moment, Lily gasped, clapping her hand against her mouth as she turned to look up at James, a twinkle of amusement in her otherwise shocked eyes.

"Oh _Merlin_ , I know who it-"

Before Lily could finish the sentence, they heard the door open.

"Fuck, hide!" Remus squeaked, scrambling around as he looked for somewhere to shield himself. Peter ducked behind his bed. Before Lily and James could move, a ruffled and half-naked Sirius Black wandered into the living room, freezing as he realized all four of them were in there, gaping at him. As one, they all started to snigger, and Sirius flushed.

"Er-"

"Sirius!" a feminine voice called, and James smirked.

"Having fun?" James asked, and Sirius smirked, crossing his arms over his naked chest and winking at James, who sniggered. Lily shook her head disapprovingly, eyes riddled with reluctant amusement as she looked at Sirius. Peter continued to snigger, and Remus, with an eye roll, turned back to the book he was reading.

Before anyone could say anything more, Hestia Jones walked into their living room, shoes and pink dress held in hand, adorned in nothing but Sirius' t-shirt. She froze, eyes widening and mouth gaping open as she looked around the room. Remus looked up from his book only long enough to let out a guffaw, before looking back down.

She shot an accusatory look at Sirius, who simply winked, causing her cheeks to pink.

"Lads, this is Hestia," Sirius said, and Hestia flushed, murmuring awkward hello's to the boys, who continued to smirk at Sirius as she awkwardly tugged down the hem of Sirius' shirt, which was presently exposing an inappropriate amount of leg, "Hestia, the lads. And you know Lily," he added, and Lily grinned, wiggling her fingers at Hestia, who smiled back at her, her face bright red.

"Say hello to Gwenog for me, you know, from your prison," Lily teased, trying to make the girl a little less uncomfortable, and Hestia's expression darkened comically, her usual spunk returning despite the awkwardness of the situation.

"Shut up Lily, you'll miss my company for lunch," she scoffed, and Lily's eyes twinkled.

"I'm sure I'll see you again," she said, eyes flickering from Sirius' naked chest to Hestia's t-shirt dress, and Hestia flushed as James coughed to hide a laugh.

"Hopefully with more clothes on next time," Remus grumbled, turning the page.

* * *

 **So there's another chapter! It's not as eventful as the last one, but then, not all of them can be! Hope you enjoyed it, review review review REVIEW PLEASE.**

 **Also, I've uploaded a new oneshot called The Jameson Effect, check it out, let me know what you think!**

 **ALSO: I HAVE UPLOADED TMATSS ON ANOTHER SITE! Simply type in teenagetradgedy (no dot in the middle) on the Archive of Our Own search bar, and I pop up!**


	9. Weakness

**Disclaimer: I am not J.K. Rowling, I do not own anything Harry Potter related except this storyline and any original characters in it.**

* * *

"You went to Mungos?" James snorted, shaking his head amusedly as Sirius grumbled at them all about a lack of subtlety and how dare Remus comment on her state of undress.

"Yes, he was very bothersome," Lily giggled, tying her hair as she readied herself to apparate to work. Hestia had left a few minutes ago, after what sounded like a very thorough goodbye with Sirius, "And I don't want to hear any more rubbish from you about silencing charms," she added, with a pointed look at Sirius, who rolled his eyes, fighting a smile as James grinned down at Lily.

"Yeah, no more rubbish," James preened, and Sirius flipped him off, taking another large bite out of the toast Lily had been kind enough to spread jam on for him while the boys had teased and jibed.

"So Sirius, everything you ever hoped it would be?" Remus asked, and Sirius smirked, eyes twinkling, "bastard," Remus scoffed, turning away from Sirius and rifling through the bag he was carrying again, "how is it you can be such a ponce and still get laid? What about me?"

"Well it's not like there hasn't been any interest expressed in you, Remus," Lily said with a grin, and Remus shot her a dubious look as the other three regarded Lily eagerly.

"There has? Tell me, Lily!" James said excitedly, grinning at Remus as he tugged at Lily's sleeve. Remus appeared to have become a statue, two hands still in his bag and his head turned to Lily, eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"Moony needs some action, we'll make it happen," Sirius sniggered, and Remus shot him an annoyed look, before turning back to his bag.

"It's rubbish," Remus snorted, and Lily beamed.

"Is it, Remus?"

"Yes," Remus said bitterly, "The only girl I spend time around nowadays is _you_."

"Maybe that's what she's trying to tell you," Peter snickered, earning a sarcastic look from James as Lily giggled.

"First Moony declares his love for Lily, now this?" Sirius snickered, and Remus flushed as Lily shot a confused look at James, who chuckled.

"Remus did what?" Lily asked, and Remus threw Sirius an annoyed look.

"I did _not_ -"

"Well, it wasn't just me who thought-"

"That's enough," James chuckled, stopping the bickering as Remus took a step towards Sirius, "leave Moony alone."

"Yes, _thank you_ Prongs," Remus sniffed indignantly, shooting Sirius another seething look before turning back to his bag. Peter bit the inside of his cheek to prevent himself from laughing as he heard Remus mutter angrily about definitely not being paired with Sirius when they split up in Little Hangleton.

"Remus did what?" Lily repeated, frowning up at James, who rolled his eyes and put his arm around her shoulder.

"Remus is being harassed, he did no such thing," James said, after noticing that the tips of Remus' ears had gone pink from embarrassment. Lily tutted, and shot Sirius a chastising look.

"Leave him alone Sirius," she said, and Sirius rolled his eyes amusedly as Remus shot Lily a smile.

"So who _did_ express interest in our dear Moony?" Peter asked, and Lily grinned as Remus rolled his eyes.

"Don't tell me it's that bint you work with," Sirius said, and Lily closed her mouth from where she was about to tease Remus, to frown at Sirius.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked, quirking a brow, and Sirius rolled his eyes, groaning loudly as he sat himself down.

"I don't like her," Sirius said, and James frowned.

"She seemed nice enough-"

"She was incredibly rude, I'm not a fan," Sirius said, and Lily rolled her eyes, fighting off a smile at Sirius' petulant expression.

"She didn't want to witness that embarrassing display between you and Hestia, and I truly don't blame her," Lily laughed, shaking her head amusedly as Sirius shot her an annoyed look, "Oh don't look at me like that Sirius, it was almost vomit-inducing. I didn't finish my lunch."

"Sirius, really, starving my girlfriend, how dare you," James scoffed, and Lily rolled her eyes as James began to giggle at his own wit. Remus snorted, rolling his eyes.

"She didn't say goodbye nicely and barely spoke to me," Sirius added, and Lily snorted, slipping on her shoes.

"Sirius, you didn't speak more than two words to her either," she said, and Sirius scoffed, "well, at least the dislike is mutual," she shrugged, and Sirius' head snapped up angrily.

" _Mutual_? What do you mean mu-"

"Exactly that," Lily said simply, shooting him an easy smile before stretching up and wrapping her arms around James' neck, pulling his head down for a quick kiss. He smiled against her mouth, "See you later. Love you."

"Love you too," James chuckled, kissing her once more quickly before she turned on the spot and vanished.

"Bint, _mutual_ , how could it fucking be-"

"Sirius, does it even matter?" Remus asked exasperatedly, standing up and pinning Sirius with a stern look, "there are more important things to be stupid about."

"Like having finally nailed Hestia Jones," James sniggered, and Sirius barked a laugh.

"In his defense Remus, it doesn't happen very often, that girls don't like him," Peter chipped in, and James snorted as Sirius looked torn between thanking and scoffing at Peter.

"Moony's just being protective because Alma _likes_ him," Sirius sniggered, and Remus rolled his eyes, cheeks tingeing pink.

"She does not, she doesn't even know me," Remus said, "And if Lily's told her anything, I obviously sound like the best option next to you and Wormtail," he added, smirking as the two boys let out loud sounds of protest, " _Anyway_ ," he said imploringly, narrowing his eyes as Sirius opened his mouth to retort. The boy wisely closed it, "We should probably get going."

"How should we go about this?" James asked excitedly, practically bouncing in his eagerness to go on a field trip.

"Prongs if you're going to act like an excitable puppy all day, I'm pairing off with someone else," Sirius said, eyeing James disapprovingly. James flipped him off, and Sirius turned to Remus, "What do you say Moony?"

"I say fuck off," Remus snorted, and Sirius gaped at him as Peter and James snickered, "Okay, does everyone know where to apparate? Here's the address of one of churches in the town centre," he said, and the boys looked down at the parchment Remus was holding, memorizing the name of the church, the street name and number, "Okay, let's go."

* * *

"Oh, I'm torn apart, truly, how will I live through this," Alma drawled sarcastically, a smirk on her face as she went on about how devastated she was not, "however will I win that pig over. Truly, I must go sob now," she sniffed, wiping at an imaginary tear, and Lily shook her head fondly.

"You're ridiculous," she said, and Alma winked, grinning as they made their way up the stairs.

"I can't believe Hestia stayed the night with Sirius," Alma giggled.

"You can't? I thought it fairly predictable given yesterday's disgusting display," Lily mused, grinning as Alma laughed harder.

"Oh, I definitely thought it would happen. Just not the same night, I thought she had more control than that." The two girls continued to giggle and gossip until they stopped abruptly, noticing a faintly irritated Healer Cromwell approaching them.

"Girls, there's going to be a meeting for the trainees in the library in a few minutes, make your way down there," she said, and Lily frowned, putting her hand gently on the older woman's arm.

"Evelyn, is everything-?"

"You'll find out at the meeting dear, I'm afraid it's nothing good, even if it's nothing surprising," she sighed again, "the Ministry's decided to do something for once, and people are following like sheep," she said, and the two girls choked back laughter as Evelyn rolled her eyes, "honestly girls, myself and a lot of other Healers reckon it's a waste of time, Healer Ackerman included," she added, with a nod to Alma, "I reckon you lot are smarter than these Recruiters think you are, but it is a sad issue, and I wouldn't want to downplay that. Please don't hesitate to come speak to me if you want to," she added, scoffing irritably at one of the Healers who shot her an annoyed look, before turning back to the ward. Looking around, Lily noticed some of the Healers looked subdued, some of them even wiping away tears.

"We haven't been sacked, have we?" Lily asked Alma, who snorted.

"You really think Healers would care this much?" she asked, gesturing towards a gently weeping Healer to their right, "and I don't know about you, but sacking a whole class of trainees would be a surprise to me." Lily shook her head fondly as she grabbed Alma's hand and dragged her down to the library, "Besides, is that even legal?"

"Alma, you talk far too much," Lily sighed, shaking her head with amusement as Alma took her words as a challenge, musing loudly about contacting the Magical Law Enforcement department at the Ministry and setting up a meeting for Unfair Dismissal of Employees.

* * *

The town was beautiful, and nothing like they'd expected a home of a Horcrux to look like. The trees bowed over the road, casting pleasant shade for the people wandering down the streets, smiling at the people they passed, stopping to talk to shop keepers. A large statue of a man on a horse stood in the middle of the centre, on the steps of which various Muggles sat, enjoying a cold drink as they absorbed the sun peeking in through the leaves of the trees. The sand coloured stones littering the walkways were broken up only by the leaves which were beginning to fall as Autumn neared.

"This place is too friendly," James muttered, as a stranger waved at him. They were standing in the middle of the town centre, at the foot of the large statue, looking around curiously for some inspiration as to where the Gaunt shack could be.

"I like it," Sirius declared, waving back at a Muggle woman who smiled shyly at him. Remus rolled his eyes and chuffed Sirius' head.

"Yes, well you're all about friendly today, aren't you?" James sniggered.

"Truly Prongs, I really ardently expressed my friendly tendencies last night," Sirius winked, and the two boys sniggered. Sirius grinned and waved at another Muggle woman, and Remus sighed.

"One woman at a time, if you please," Remus snorted, tutting at Sirius, who rolled his eyes as the boy snapped his fingers to get James' attention, "something you want?" Remus asked, eyes flickering to the store James had been staring into, and James shrugged.

"Just looking," he said breezily, ignoring Remus and Sirius' exchanged look of exasperation.

"Prongs, this isn't any time to be _shopping_ ," Sirius snorted, and James rolled his eyes.

"Where's Wormtail?"

"I'm here!" They turned to see the boy in question, panting as he ran up to them holding a brochure, "I popped into that tourist place while you were bickering about Sirius' sex life," he said, nodding to the small green shop some ways down the street, ignoring Remus' eye roll and Sirius scoff, "they have maps of the town, although why they'd need one I don't understand, this place is fucking boring," he added, and James smirked.

"That was very clever of you mate, is it helpful at all?" he asked, and Peter opened the map.

"Well, we're here," he said, pointing to a red circle, "the Muggle in there seemed to think I wouldn't have figured that out for myself," he said bitterly, and the other three bit back smiles, "anyway there's two paths away from here," he said, tracing the two in question with his pointer finger, "think is they're in completely opposite directions and both lead to crossroads for Little Hangleton and Great Hangleton, so I reckon we should split up and each take one of these," he said, and Remus beamed.

"Wormtail, you have never been so helpful, thank you," he said, and Peter rolled his eyes at the boys patronizing tone as Sirius and James sniggered, "Now," Remus said, pointing his finger at the path that would take them towards their left, "Sirius and James, you two take this one," he said, pointing towards their left where a the road turned right and cut off from view, "follow that, see where it gets you. Pete and I will take this one."

"Here," James said, pulling his mirror out of his pocket and handing it Remus, who smiled gratefully, "you two take this, Sirius has his. Contact when you find the thing."

"Or if you want to hear my details of last night," Sirius winked, and Remus snorted, snatching the mirror and turning on his heel as a sniggering Peter followed.

* * *

Lily and Alma entered the library to find it, for the first time, deserted. The only people in the room were the four other male trainees, all of whom turned and gave them nervous smiles as they walked in, taking a seat at the same table as the boys.

"Anyone know what's going on?" a boy to Alma's right said. He had shaggy chocolate brown hair and green eyes, and spoke with a thick Scottish accent. Everyone else at the table shook their heads uncertainly, looking around at each other for confirmation that they, too, didn't know.

"Everyone seems very somber though," a northern boy with blonde hair said, "Um, I'm Andrew by the way," he said awkwardly, with an uncertain wave, and Lily smiled.

"Lily, I'm with Healer Cromwell," she said.

"This is a good idea, we should get to know each other," the Scottish boy said, throwing Alma a cute grin. Alma blinked quickly, and Lily fought the urge to laugh, "I'm Owen, I'm from Glasgow."

"Explains why I have no idea what you're saying," another boy chuckled. Owen simply laughed, taking the abuse in his stride, "I'm Josh, by the way, from Leicester."

"Liam," another boy said, scratching his nose, "I'm on the general rotation right now."

"And you are?" Owen asked Alma, who blinked again, throwing Lily, who was grinning at her, a bewildered look.

"Alma," she said after a moment, sounding her usual confident self, "I'm with Healer Ackerman in the artefact accidents ward," she said.

"Surprising that there are so few of us, isn't it?" Andrew said, smiling around at them, and Owen chuckled.

"It was a real surprise to me when I got that letter, mind you. Had a right wee strop, I did."

"I do not know what you just said, but I think I agree," Liam snorted, and the six of them laughed lightly, "Congratulations, by the way," he said, nodding towards Lily's hand, where it was resting on the table.

"Oh, er, thank you," Lily said, flushing darkly as all four boys cheerfully congratulated her.

"Married or engaged?" Owen asked, and Lily smiled at him. She'd instantly warmed to his cheerful and easy going demeanor, not to mention she very much respected someone who could put Alma off guard.

"Engaged, very recently," Lily said, and Alma snorted.

"By very recently she really means last week," she said, and the boys went on another round of congratulations.

"Yes, thank you for that," Lily said sardonically, and Alma grinned as the boys chuckled.

"What do you reckon this meeting is about?" Andrew asked, looking around nervously, and Liam shrugged.

"I reckon it's something glaringly obvious, at least, that's what my Healer said," he said, and Lily sighed.

"Cromwell also said it wasn't a very surprising revelation," she said, Alma nodding in agreement. Before anyone else had time to muse, the door opened and in walked the same lady who had given the their orientation speech on their first day of training. She had a sad expression on her face, though she smiled slightly as her eyes touched each of them.

"It's so wonderful to see you all again," she said, stopping in front of their table and pulling up a chair, so she was sitting across from Lily, in between Andrew and Owen, "I would love to ask you all how you have been finding your time here at Mungos, but unfortunately today's conversation is a rather upsetting one. As you're all aware, there have been several successive attacks recently," she said, and Lily noticed all the boys nod, "I'm afraid the Ministry had decided to declare us in active wartime," she said. Lily blinked.

Was this the big revelation?

She looked at Alma, to notice the girl had turned to her with a similarly disbelieving expression on her face.

"The Ministry are to make a formal announcement later tonight, but we were informed ahead of time because we'll be facing the influx and aftermath of the war here within our walls. We can only apologize to you for what you are inevitably going to witness, and wish you all the best with handling it," she added, bringing up a tissue to wipe at the corners of her eyes.

There was a silence as the trainees exchanged confused glances, before Alma cleared her throat, "Is that why you called this meeting? Just to let us know about the war?" she asked, and Lily bit the inside of her cheek to stop laughing as she heard the undertones of disbelief in her friends voice.

"Yes," the lady sighed sadly, regarding them all, "as you can expect, it has come as a shock to many in our community-" Lily was proud to see that all the trainees looked dubious, "Does anyone have any questions? Anything I can answer?"

"Er, sorry Miss, but I just don't understand how this could have come as a shock to anyone," Josh said, sounding genuinely perplexed by the conversation.

"I know it's a lot to take in," she said sympathetically, and Josh shot a disbelieving look at Andrew, who was sitting beside him, earning a smirk in return. She cleared her throat and smiled once more, before standing up, "Take your time before heading up to your wards, as much of it as you need. This is not an easy thing to come to terms with," she said, and then promptly strode out the ward.

Liam got up immediately, and with a nod to the others, strode out of the library, followed by Andrew, with whom he immediately began chatting. The other boy Josh looked at Owen dubiously, before standing up.

"I feel cheated, I thought there would be actual news in this meeting," he snorted, and Owen laughed, standing up as well.

"Suppose we should just prepare ourselves, as if we didn't already enter this job knowing there was a war," he said, and Alma laughed.

"As if we hadn't figured it out for ourselves these past couple weeks," she said, and Owen laughed.

"Where do you guys eat lunch?" he asked. When Alma told him they'd be in the tearoom, he winked, "See you later then." Owen and Josh strolled out of the library, sniggering as they mimicked the Speech Lady, as they apparently called her, and Lily shot Alma an amused look.

"Something you want to tell me?"

"Don't, I actually couldn't breathe when he winked at me," Alma sighed, dropping her head down to the table, "tell Remus I'm sorry," she added, and Lily laughed.

* * *

"This is the longest road ever," James grumbled, as he kicked a small pebble. It rolled a little ways down the road, then stopped, falling over pathetically, like James wished he could have done. They'd been walking for about twenty minutes now, and he'd seen nothing but trees and bushes and Muggle children. Not exactly what he had pictured when he thought about a Horcrux location.

"Speaking of long-"

"If you make another reference to your dick Padfoot, I swear to Merlin-"

"Someone's testy," Sirius sniggered, and James guffawed.

"Testy, very subtle," he snorted, and Sirius wagged his brows as they reached the rock. Sirius took his chance to kick it this time, eyes following it as it landed a few feet ahead, in the middle of the pathway, "how much further do you reckon it'll be anyway?"

"Who knows mate, we may not even be going towards the blasted thing," Sirius shrugged, yawning hugely, "Fuck, I didn't get _any_ sleep."

"I won't be condoning any complaining from you about this," James scoffed, kicking at the rock as they reached it again, "you've drooled over her since, fuck, First Year was it? Merlin, has it really been that long?"

"Did I say I was complaining?" Sirius sniggered, yawning again, "but, fuck, I didn't realize the whole night had passed until she had to go to work. Is that normal?"

"It's like that when I'm with Lily," James shrugged, reaching up and messing his hair, "time sort of just passes, and I don't even realize it's gone by," he added with a grin, and Sirius snorted, shaking his head.

"It's ridiculous, how can you smile about something like that, she's sucking your life out of you," Sirius said, and James laughed, kicking at the rock again, "I don't think I've ever talked to a girl for so long."

"Other than Lily, of course," James piped in, and Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Mate, she's always the bloody exception," he said, and James chuckled, "or she was, until I spent about eight hours just talking to Hestia. Well, maybe not eight, I mean, we did do other things," James rolled his eyes as Sirius adopted a wolfish grin, before starting.

"Do you like her, mate?" James asked, eyebrows raised in surprise as he turned to his friend. Sirius stopped walking as well, turning to face James, looking mildly shameful, "Is that what you're trying to tell me?"

"I think so," Sirius muttered, looking away from James' face to the trees over the boys shoulder, "I've never liked a girl properly before, is this what that feels like?"

"Well, what do you feel like?" James asked curiously, and Sirius huffed, crossing his arms and speaking quickly.

"I feel like shit. I've literally been replaying conversations in my head all day. I want to write to her or go over to her place, and not just because she's a great shag, which she is, but I don't even want to shag her as much as I want to talk to her. And, like, when I make her laugh I feel really proud of myself. She's like a fucking Niffler, she's made a mess in my head," Sirius said, sounding more vulnerable than James had ever heard the boy sound. He smiled, and clapped Sirius on the shoulder.

"Sounds like it to me," he shrugged, "I didn't realize you liked her, thought you just wanted to, you know," he added and Sirius groaned, dropping his face into his hands.

"Fucks sake, I _did_ just wanted a lay," he grumbled, and James laughed as they started to walk again, "Is that really so much to ask for?"

"Well mate, from personal experience, ever since Lily and I first, you know, I don't think a shag will ever feel quite as good with someone I didn't care about," James mused, and Sirius groaned.

"That's what I was afraid of," Sirius snorted, and James laughed as Sirius kicked the rock so aggressively it hurtled off the road and into a bush, "how am I ever going to enjoy sex again."

"Just keep doing it with Hestia," James shrugged, and Sirius sighed.

"I'm scared of her," he said quietly, and James was taken aback once more by the uncharacteristically vulnerable undertone to Sirius' voice.

"I know, I'm scared of Lily," James sighed, and Sirius nodded, grimacing.

"Suppose that's just how it goes."

There were a few moments of comfortable silence then, as the boys wandered forwards, each lost in their own minds. James' brain was in a frenzy, going back over his years of friendship with Sirius, trying to find an instance when Sirius had ever felt for a girl the way he was feeling for Hestia right now. James stopped short, when he realized never before had Sirius felt this way. It had always been empty physical relationships. All about sex and alcohol. Never emotions, never love. James had had his few as well, undoubtedly, but Lily had always been in his mind, as shameful as he felt admitting it. With other girls, it had always been Lily he'd been thinking about. Sirius hadn't been thinking about anyone. James felt his heart ache slightly as he thought of just how lonely Sirius had to have been, with a messed up family, and empty relationships. All he'd ever really had were the Marauders, and then Lily, and now Hestia. James winced slightly as he thought of how little time he'd been spending with Sirius, how much his time had been monopolized by thoughts of Lily, and his parents, and their future. To think about it, this was probably the longest he and Sirius had spent, just the two of them, without distraction, in months. He'd taken his best mate for granted, how had he allowed that?

"Earth to Prongs," Sirius drawled, and James jumped, turning his head to see Sirius rolling his eyes, "Seriously mate, I've been talking to you for a couple minutes now, have you not heard a single thing I've said?"

"I'm sorry," James blurted out, and Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Prongs-"

"No," James said, grabbing at Sirius' arm and stopping him short. Sirius quirked a brow at him, "I'm sorry."

"Yeah, Prongs, it's not a big deal-"

"No, not for just now. For, just, for the past few months," he said, and Sirius frowned, "I've been so busy with Lily and my parents and graduation and, well, more Lily, that I haven't-"

"Finally," Sirius snorted, rolling his eyes as he threw his arm around James' shoulder and guided them onwards, "you're a prick Prongs," he said, and James grinned, mussing his own hair.

"I know," he sighed, and Sirius chuckled.

"Maybe I'll think to schedule alone time with you as well," Sirius mused, and James rolled his eyes, shoving Sirius off him as the boy started to snigger, "Lily has the right idea, I think, you're so _busy_ -"

"Well maybe now that Hestia's around we'll have to," James retorted, and Sirius barked a laugh, eyes twinkling, "Wanker."

"Not anymore, not now that I have Hestia," Sirius sniggered, and James groaned, shoving at Sirius again as the boy cackled with mad laughter, "Think I'll ask her to dinner," Sirius said, and James smirked.

* * *

"And I'm fairly certain Padfoot hates me."

"Wormtail-"

"What? It's true-"

"But he doesn't-"

"Moony, don't sugarcoat this for me, yeah? James is-"

"He hasn't done any-"

"And Lily-"

"What has she-"

"Moony! Will you just let me talk?" Peter sighed, stopping and turning to face Remus, who grimaced awkwardly. He crossed his arms and gave a curt nod, and Peter took a deep breath, "Look, I was there, okay? I read those blasted books, I watched the way all of you, even you, changed the way you look at me. And I get it, because, fuck, frankly, I look at myself the same way," Peter said, closing his eyes and dropping his head so he would no longer have to look at Remus' calculating eyes, "I don't want that. I _hate_ the way I am in those books. I'm scared that it's a very possible future. Not now, I don't think, because I hated the way Harry thought of me, I hated what I became. But bloody hell Remus, if we hadn't found those damn books, I would have never known better. I would have changed and turned into some sort of _monster_ and I never-"

Peter was cut off as Remus' arms hugged tightly around him, and he blinked, "er, Moony?"

"I am so happy to hear you say that," Remus sighed, letting go of Peter and grinning down at him, "I believe you won't go down that path, mate. You know better now," he said, and Peter grimaced.

"I'll do my best."

"You will," Remus nodded, and sighed, "I mean, Sirius and James are my best mates, and are understandably a bit wary of you," he said, ignoring Peter's grimace at that, "but so are you," he said, and Peter nodded, blinking quickly, "you're my best mate too Pete. When I thought you died at that explosion by the orphanage, I was terrified," Remus sighed, and Peter smiled slightly.

"Yeah mate, I know."

"Well, then, just don't give me a reason to hate you, okay?" Remus said, and Peter chuckled, nodding his head.

"Do me a favour though?" Peter asked, and Remus frowned at him, "If I start going over to their side, just, I don't know. Just please stop me," he said and Remus frowned.

"Stop you? Stop you how?"

"I don't care," Peter said, shrugging, "if it seems like I can be swayed, try and save me. If not, well, I don't want to live like that," he said, and Remus' jaw dropped.

"I'm not going to-"

"I'm asking you to," Peter said, nodding his head vigorously, "I don't care what you do, but I'm asking you, promise me you won't let me become that monster," he said, looking up at Remus, who closed his eyes painfully as he saw the tears in Peters.

"I won't promise to do anything to harm you, but I'll do everything I can to make sure you don't become the evil personage of Harry's story," he said, and Peter smiled at him.

"Thanks Moony."

* * *

"That's a nice building," Sirius mused, as he and James reached the end of the path to look up at a large navy blue Manor, "I think we could see this from the town centre."

James continued to frown at the building, before his eyes widened, "Padfoot, you don't think this could be Vo-, er, the Riddle's place, do you?" he asked, cutting himself off quickly when Sirius whacked him in the arm at his accidental trip up.

"Prongs I swear to Merlin if you accidentally say that word, I'll kill you myself," Sirius grumbled, and James smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry mate."

"I think you may be on to something," Sirius mused, looking up at the large mansion, "they did say it was the biggest place or something, didn't they?"

"There must be some sort of name plate, or something," James mused, moving forwards, only to be pulled back by Sirius' grip on his sleeve.

"Are you an idiot? What if there's a trap?"

"Isn't there a Muggle living there?" James asked, exasperated, turning back around and then nodding to a stream of smoke rising behind the building, "there, see, someone's in there. Let go of me," he said, yanking his arm out of Sirius' grip and heading towards the small gate to the Manor, followed closely by a clearly disapproving Sirius. He made his way forwards to a mailbox, and pulled out his wand and performing a quick _scourgify_ of the thing. There it was, on the side of the mailbox, in thick black cursive writing.

 _ **Riddle**_

* * *

"It really didn't look this long on the map," Remus grumbled, as he looked at the brochure Peter had collected.

"Agreed, I'm fucking exhausted," Peter groaned, stretching his arms above his head as he yawned, "To think people actually enjoy long walks."

"I like a long walk when I'm not actually looking for something," Remus snorted, and Peter sniggered. Suddenly, Remus' arm shot out and Peter walked into it, letting out an 'ooph' as the arm slammed him in the chest.

"Moony, what the-"

"Look!" Remus hissed, nodding towards, what Peter thought to be a hedge.

"It's, I mean, wow mate, excellent shrubbery," Peter said, frowning, and Remus rolled his eyes, shoving at the boy as he walked towards it.

"Shrubbery, Merlin you are daft," Remus snorted, and Peter rolled his eyes as he watched the werewolf close in on the hedge.

"I'm not the one about to snog some so I think that's uncalled for," Peter sniffed, and Remus rolled his eyes, gesturing the boy forwards.

"Look through it," he said impatiently, and Peter groaned, walking over and moving some of the leaves aside. Through it, he could see a large pile of broken wood and rubble, which looked as if it hadn't been touched in centuries. A larger piece of wood, which Peter realized was a door, lay on top of the pile. Outside in the brown, dried up front lawn, were various pieces of broken glass and broken appliances. The place smelled vaguely of blood.

"Is that it?" Peter whispered, and Remus shrugged.

"Must be, it's terrifying enough, don't you think?"

"Yes," Peter snorted, "think there's another way in?"

"Er," Remus wondered out loud, eyes scanning the area around him before stopping somewhere to his right, "how about this? Looks like there's a gap in the edge here." He moved towards it and grinned as he noticed enough space for a small person to get through, "there, see, told you I'd find it."

"Yes, wonderful work mate," Peter snorted, looking down at the small hole, "perhaps we should make sure it's not just some scary Muggles' place?"

Remus rolled his eyes, then dragged Peter over towards him, "Honestly, don't you use your eyes? Look through here, and look at the door," Remus said, pointing at the hole, "I'm going to call the others." Peter grumbled irritably about how he _obviously_ used his eyes as he got down on his knees.

There, nailed on the door, was a dead snake.

* * *

"So this is the fucking creepiest thing we've ever done," Sirius snorted, as he and James wandered through the deserted mansion. The place was dark and dreary, and Sirius found himself turning every few seconds, as if someone had blown on his neck. He was fairly certain a few spiders had walked over his feet, and was debating whether the top of James' head was the top of a spider crawling on it or just the way his hair naturally grew all over the place, when something fell on his face, "AH! WHAT THE –"

"Sirius shut up!" James hissed, turning around and pressing his hand against Sirius' mouth as the boy continued to yell. James laughed and plucked a small lizard off Sirius' face, throwing it away as Sirius scrunched his eyes closed tightly.

"What the fuck was it?" Sirius croaked, as James finally removed his hand, and James snickered.

"A lizard."

"Fuck off Prongs, if something landed on _your_ face-"

"I know better than to _shout_ like some sort of-"

"Merlin," Sirius breathed, and James frowned, surprised he hadn't been cut off again, and turned to see what had stopped Sirius. They were in the family area of the ground floor, and on the floor were three patches of floor, where dust had never fallen.

"They're about the size of people, don't you think?" James whispered, his voice quavering as he looked down at the shapes, and then around the room. Everything in this room seemed to stay still, unmoving, as if it had witnessed something truly horrible.

"Bet it's his father, and grandparents," Sirius whispered, eyes scanning the portraits on the walls, before frowning and walking towards one. James realized his friend was no longer next to him, and hurried over, ignoring Sirius' smirk at his cowardice.

"Who's the baby now?"

"What are you looking at?" James asked, ignoring Sirius' jibe, and Sirius snickered, turning back to the portrait, covered in layers of dust, but through which the vague outline of three people could be seen. James blew on the portrait, and the two of them coughed aggressively as the dust blew back into their faces. Sirius sneezed, then turned to glare at James. He pulled out his wand and waved it, clearing the dust, and James smiled sheepishly.

"Idiot," Sirius grumbled, turning back to the portrait. His eyes froze on the youngest of the three, a boy who looked about twenty. He had wavy dark brown hair and startling violet eyes, and a kind smile, "Is that-"

"His dad," James breathed, leaning closer to look at it, before shuddering aggressively, "That's just fucked up. I just can't even fathom that he _had_ a dad, you know? And shit I mean, that's what he looks like? No, he must look more fucked up. Merlin this place is disgusting. I need to leave, it's too weird in here." James' voice continued to rise in octaves as he looked around, and Sirius rolled his eyes, grabbing James' sleeve and pulling him towards the exit, "this was the worst idea we've ever had. Why the fuck did we have to go exploring? 'It'll be fun Prongs', that's the last time I'm ever listening to-"

"Shut it," Sirius hissed, as the light of a lamp appeared at the end of the corridor. James' eyes widened and he reached into his pocket, fingering the grip of his wand as he and Sirius took a quiet step closer, "Filch?" Sirius breathed, and James punched him in the side as he fought the urge to laugh. Sirius simply smirked, "Just like old times, isn't it?"

"Yeah," James breathed, beaming at Sirius. The light started to get closer, and in one quick movement, James whipped the invisibility cloak out of his pocket and threw it around the both of them.

"Do you just _carry_ that around?" Sirius hissed, and James smirked at him and mouthed 'you're welcome' as an elderly man walked around the corner. He had an exaggerated limp, and was glaring angrily around the house, tufts of graying hair escaping the wooly hat he had pulled over his ears.

"I think that's the Muggle," James murmured, and Sirius rolled his eyes, elbowing James in the side, "Let's just leave, come on, quietly," James murmured, and Sirius allowed him to nudge him towards the exit of the room, along the corridor away from the muttering Muggle man.

Just then, a loud voice from Sirius pocket started to yell.

"SIRIUS!"

The Muggle man screamed, turning in their direction and shining a muggle torch at them, screaming even louder as the noise seemed to come from four dismembered feet. James and Sirius screamed, and began to ran, holding the cloak tightly as they made their way to the door.

"Here," Sirius hissed, grabbing James' sleeve and pulling him into a dark corner. The Muggle man continued to shout about ghosts and words like 'begone!' as he hurried down the corridor, past where the two boys were standing. James let out a relieved breath, and clapped Sirius on the shoulder, "Fucking Remus," Sirius grumbled, digging through his pocket to find the mirror, "gave me a bloody heart attack."

"I know you're there, apparition! Be free! Be gone! Leave this world! Go to the light!"

The two boys looked up to see the Muggle man was back in their area, waving his torch around. Sirius snickered as James rolled his eyes. The man a began to make his way closer to them, and the boys exchanged a panicked look before ducking down to their knees. They crawled underneath the man's outstretched, and then made it up to their feet.

"SIRIUS!"

"RUN!" James shouted, as the Muggle man's eyes zeroed in on where they were, and seemingly deciding they needed help dying or something, he pulled out a knife and began waving it in their vicinity. He grabbed Sirius' arm and tugged him towards the door they'd entered through, dragging him outside amid the old man's shouts of 'begone!'

They didn't stop running until they got back to the road, and kept running straight, off the road and down a big slope of trees and bushes until they reached a clearing. James pulled the cloak off them and put it in his pocket as Sirius doubled over, catching his breath.

"Fucking Remus, I'm going to kill him," Sirius groaned, and James snorted in agreement, standing up straight and looking around. Sirius turned to him, worried, as James froze, "Prongs? What's the matter?"

"We're in a graveyard," James murmured, looking around nervously, and Sirius sprung up, his eyes absorbing the scene. In the middle of a large circular graveyard, a large figure stood raised out of the ground, indicating the centre, around which all the graves spread in consecutive circles. Dark gray, almost black gravestones were littered around them, and James gulped before making his way forwards, his eyes scanning the gravestones.

"What are you doing?" Sirius hissed, grabbing James' arm and stopping him. James' eyes continued to wander the headstones around them.

"Where is it?" James murmured, "I need to see it," he muttered, pulling his arm out of Sirius' grip and walking forwards.

"Prongs? What's the matter with you? What are you looking for?" Sirius called, hurrying to keep pace with James, as his eyes continued to scour the names etched on the gravestones around him.

"The Riddle grave," James said, nodding his head ferociously.

"Why?" Sirius asked, frowning, and James huffed, stopping short and turning to meet Sirius' eye, "Prongs, what are you going to do?" he asked sadly, and James groaned.

"I don't _know_ Padfoot, but now that we're here I just, I _have to_ see it," he said almost hysterically, and Sirius quirked a brow at him.

"What does-"

"Look, it won't take long, you don't even have to help me. I'll just, I'll find it, and then we'll go to Moony," James said, attempting a smile, which didn't reach his eyes, before turning away from Sirius and continuing on.

"I don't think this is a good idea mate. Prongs!" Sirius called, brow furrowing as he noticed the tense set in James' spine and the frantic way his eyes flickered from grave to grave. "James!" he hissed again, only to be ignored. Sirius groaned and rolled his eyes, "Fine, I'll help you find the damn thing," Sirius muttered, wandering along the rows of graves, "but as soon as we do we'll go find Moony, deal?" he asked loudly. James gave him a non-committal grunt, and Sirius rolled his eyes, figuring that was as much of a reaction he was going to get.

The area was too quiet, the din interrupted only by the crunching sounds of the autumn leaves under James and Sirius' shoes. Sirius continued to walk along, eyes flickering to James' tense stance, and cringing away from the graves that had remnants of loved ones' visits adorning them. His heart sunk as he noticed a grave too small to be there, with a child's doll lying above it. He changed direction almost instantly, and walked closer to the middle of the graveyard, while James wandered along the outer rings, making his way in slowly in a spiral so he wouldn't miss a single headstone.

Sirius froze, as he looked down at the stone in front of him, "Er, Prongs," he croaked, his voice sounding too loud in the eerie din of the graveyard. James' head snapped up, and Sirius nodded to the grave in front of him, gesturing James over with a shaking hand. He would have been alarmed at the speed with which James had reached him, if it hadn't been for his own stomach flipping at the sight of the stone.

"There it is," James breathed, eyes wandering over the gravestone of Tom Riddle Sr. Sirius' eyes shifted and he grimaced as he saw the names of Voldemort's grandparents beside it.

"Prongs, what is it you're planning on doing?" Sirius asked, turning to look at his best mate, whose expression was blank, eyes calculating and bright as he looked at the headstone. James turned to look at Sirius, a manic glint in his eye.

"I think we should destroy it."

"Prongs, we can't do that," Sirius said, eyes wide with alarm as he looked between the grave and James, "Why would you-"

" _Because_ -"

"No mate, I don't even want to _hear_ what's going to be shite-"

"I just don't want to give him the chance to come back!" James shouted cathartically, and Sirius noticed that the boy's frame was shuddering with emotion, "I mean, what if we don't succeed at this?" James choked, and Sirius' expression froze, "It's an impossible mission, we don't have the same abilities Harry had to feel them near us, all we know is what they are. We don't even know exactly what the shit looks like. What if we fail? What if You-Know-Who manages to do everything he did in those fucking books, and even if Wormtail doesn't fuck up, what if someone else helps him come back? What if all this is for nothing and Harry has to live the life he does in those books? I won't let him, Sirius, I won't. I won't let that bastard come back and torture my son. I can't feel so helpless all the time anymore," James' voice cracked slightly on the word 'helpless', and Sirius' jaw dropped.

"But, Prongs, you're not helpless-"

"Aren't I?" James snorted, shaking his head with disgust as he reached up and wiped aggressively at his eyes, "the world is falling apart around us, this is what the universe had planned, and what would've happened if Dumbledore hadn't decided to take a stand. Nothing will slow down and this war is getting worse and worse. Padfoot, how can I not feel helpless about this?"

Sirius gaped at James, unsure of what to say as he looked back at the grave. What if You-Know-Who _did_ manage everything? What if he came back? Sirius turned to James with a blank expression, and James grimaced at the resignation he could see in his friends' eyes.

"Prongs, I think you're going to do what you think is best, and Merlin knows I've always trusted your judgment," Sirius sighed. James grimaced again, and raised his wand. Just before he could utter a sound, a voice started to yell from Sirius' pocket again.

"SIRIUS!"

Sirius jumped, startled, and reached into his pocket as James blinked, lowering his wand and staring down at the grave again. Sirius could practically see the wheels in James' head turning, contemplating whether this was the right thing to do.

"SIRIUS!"

"Prongs, what do you want me to do here?" Sirius asked. James seemed to have checked out, he didn't even twitch as he continued to stare at the grave, twisting his wand in his fingers. Sirius called Remus' name into the mirror.

"About fucking time," Remus' grumpy face appeared, "the fuck were you doing that's was so-"

"We're in the graveyard," Sirius said quickly, watching as Remus' eyes widened, and then turned into a frown.

"Why?"

"Come here," Sirius said, shooting an anxious glance at James, who was still staring at the grave. The mirror went blank, and in seconds, Remus and Peter appeared in the middle of the clearing, a few feet away on James' other side. Remus took one look at the grave, and then at James' face, before hurrying forwards.

"Don't," Remus said, and James' head shot up, regarding Remus with a searing look.

"Moony-"

"No, James, I know what you're thinking," he said, shaking his head as his eyes flickered back to the grave uncomfortably, "upsetting a grave is a curse in itself, there are no booby traps or forces that'll be unleashed, but it's old magic. Don't do it," Remus added. When James didn't respond, Remus threw Sirius a desperate look. Peter, stood behind Remus, looked green, as his eyes stared down at the grave, and around the clearing. His eyes met Sirius', and Sirius looked away.

"Sod off Moony," James muttered, turning back to the grave. He started to raise his wand again, but Sirius grabbed his wrist, causing James' annoyed gaze to flicker to him.

"Padfoot-"

"No, wait, listen to Moony first," Sirius said, staring imploringly into James' eyes, "If you still choose to go through with this after listening to what he has to say, then I'll be with you mate, but you can't just destroy your soul on a whim. Think about what he said," Sirius added. James stared into Sirius' eyes for a moment, before sighing and lowering his wand, closing his eyes as he looked down at the floor.

"Are you okay Prongs?" Peter squeaked, terrified to speak in this place, this place where his future self had done so much wrong. James' wand hand twitched, and Remus placed his hand gently but firmly on Peter's shoulder, meeting his eyes and shaking his head subtly.

Peter got the message; _he_ shouldn't speak.

"I don't want to die," James whispered. Sirius and Remus exchanged a worried glance, both unsure of what to say, what to do, "I can't- I can't deal with this. If we fuck this up, Lily and I will be dead in a few years," he added, closing his eyes and shaking his head.

"You wo-"

"You remember what those gravestones said," James said hoarsely, cutting off Remus' attempted protest, "we died at 21. I'm 18 now Moony. We have less than three years to end this," he said, shaking his head. Peter shrunk slightly as Sirius' gaze met his, and he saw the remnants of hatred and uncertainty which the boy had been hiding back, before Sirius turned back to look at James, "What we're doing, I'm fighting not just to get rid of him for the world, but I'm fighting for my life, Lily's life," he added, shaking his head side to side, "that didn't hit me till we got here, to this graveyard. The tombstones made it so real. That this isn't some game, it's- fuck, I don't even know anymore," James sniffed, reaching his hand up to rub his forehead. He took another deep breath then opened his eyes, meeting Sirius' with the same blazing look as before, "But if I do die, I'll damn well make sure I do everything I can to make sure he doesn't win," James said, before turning back to the Riddle grave.

"James," Remus said, grabbing the boy's wrist and forcing him to lower his wand. James turned to glare at him, "You're right. It's scary, and there's so much at stake," Remus said, nodding his head as he turned to look at the other two as well, to see they had their heads ducked somberly, "But Prongs, I am _begging_ you not to do this. I've read books about old magic in the library, and destroying a grave out of anger or vengeance curses the soul. I-I won't let you do that to yourself," Remus said, giving James a hard look as the boy's jaw clenched in protest.

"Moony, you-"

"Besides," Remus said, raising his voice over James', "you promised me that you wouldn't do anything to hurt Lily," he said, and James' jaw snapped shut, "you don't think _this_ wouldbreakthat promise?"

"He's right," Sirius said, grasping James' shoulder. Peter had taken a few steps back, watching the scene with wide eyes, "Lily would be devastated if you did this to yourself. And we're all going to do our best to make sure we destroy everything that keeps that bastard here before it's too late. If it goes wrong, things will be different, because there are still people who know about this, and can do something," Sirius cleared his throat as it suddenly closed off with emotion. James turned to meet his eye, and Sirius felt some relief as he found his friend in there.

"I'm terrified," James sighed, shaking his head as he ruffled his hair, eyes looking back down at the grave, "all the time I'm scared we're going to fail."

"I know mate, but we won't," Remus said, and James bowed his head, bringing a hand up to cover his eyes.

"Go, I've got this," Sirius said to Remus, who blinked quickly and nodded, gesturing for Peter to come with him.

"Here," Remus tapped Sirius' palm, and on it appeared what looked like coordinates, "that's where we were, I had enough time to figure it out before you finally answered," he said, "come when you can, Pete and I will work on figuring it out," he said.

"Swot," Sirius snorted, and Remus' lip twitched amusedly, "thanks," Sirius added, and Remus rolled his eyes, shoving at Sirius.

"He's my best mate too," Remus said, and Sirius sighed as Remus and Peter, with one last worried look at James, vanished.

* * *

"How do we go about this?" Peter asked hoarsely, keeping his eyes determinedly fixed on the hedge.

"Spells to break through shields, I reckon," Remus sighed, and the two of them began to wave their wands. There was a loud blast, and they were thrown backwards, Peter landing in a ditch, Remus sliding down from where he'd been blasted into the hedge on the opposite side of the road.

"Moony, you okay?" Peter squeaked, as he jumped up and ran over to where Remus lay. Remus groaned and pushed himself up, rubbing at the back of his head.

"Fuck that hurt," he grumbled, and Peter snorted, lips turning up as he fought off laughter. Remus noticed and rolled his eyes, fighting off a smirk as he allowed Peter to pull him up to his feet.

"I think there are some protective enchantments around it," Peter said after a moment, and Remus snorted in amusement.

"Or there are none, and our magic just backfired," Remus sighed, shaking his head as he stared at the shack, "my mind is-"

"On James, yeah, I know," Peter said, turning to look at the shack as well, "I don't know how we're supposed to help."

"If Sirius can't, then-"

There was a loud pop, and the two boys in question appeared beside them. James' eyes were slightly pink behind his glasses, but other than that he looked perfectly in order. Remus quirked a brow at Sirius, who smiled reassuringly and clapped James on the shoulder, "come on mate, let's go figure this out. Clearly they need our help."

"Clearly," James chuckled, looking from Remus' leaf covered clothing to Peter's muddy trousers, "you've been here less than two minutes."

"We were thrown back!" Peter squawked, and James smiled at the floor, unable to meet the boys' eyes just yet.

"Like I said, we're needed," Sirius snorted, pulling out his wand and heading forwards. Peter pulled his wand out and followed after, a few paces behind.

"Sorry," James mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck as he looked up and met Remus' eyes. Remus rolled them, and threw his arm around James' neck, leading him towards the hedge.

"There's no reason to be," Remus sighed, as they made their way over to where Sirius was frowning and Peter was looking at the shack warily, "you've every right to feel the way you are."

"Thanks for stopping me," James said, and Remus grinned at him.

"Prongs, preventing you from doing something stupid might actually be my purpose," Remus laughed, and James scoffed, shoving the boy off him as they reached Sirius.

"Why so serious?" James asked, smirking, and Sirius shot him a sardonic look as Remus and Peter smirked.

"Hilarious, truly," Sirius drawled, before gesturing to the shack with his wand, "did you guys cast a revealing spell?"

"No," Peter said, and Sirius quirked a brow at Remus, whose complexion darkened as he cleared his throat.

"Forgot."

"Explains why you were thrown back," James sniggered, and Remus shot him a dirty look.

"You forgot the one thing you actually needed to do?" Sirius asked, amused. As Remus opened his mouth to retort, James cut in.

"Why don't we all cast revealing charms?" he said loudly, biting back a laugh at the exceedingly smug look Sirius shot Remus, "Remus, you did for your charms project that stupid spell that made the strength of a spell show, or something, right?" he asked, and Remus rolled his eyes.

"Because Adam McKinnon was too much of a-"

"Yes, we know, your partner was stupid hence your project was stupid," Sirius sniggered, "but Prongs is on to something here."

"Yes, thank you Padfoot," James said, turning back to the werewolf, "Cast your charm, and then maybe we'll see what we're dealing with."

Remus grumbled as he moved forwards, being sure to stand on the other side of James, between him and Peter, so as to avoid the sniggering Sirius. They raised their wands and began to murmur spells, and Remus sighed before calling out the one he'd researched with Adam for their charms project. The boys frowned as they finished, and nothing had happened.

"What the fuck?" Sirius asked, frowning at the pile of rubble as he lowered his wand, and Remus huffed.

"Well if you'd bothered to listen to our Charms project," he said, and Sirius rolled his eyes as James smirked, "there's a range of colours which indicate varying strengths of spells."

"I don't need a lecture mate, just tell me what this means."

"As I was saying," Remus continued, and Sirius groaned dramatically as James continued to grin at his two friends' behavior, "spells that are in the blues and purples family are stronger than those that appear red or orange," he said, and Sirius rolled his eyes, "colour shows up regardless of which spell is used, therefore I reckon-"

"He could've just said nothing was there," he mumbled under his breath, only loud enough for James to hear. James was tactful enough to disguise his bark of laughter with a cough.

"So, what? We just walk forwards?" Peter said, squinting and leaning forwards, as if expecting to be thrown back again.

"Well, he's an arrogant son of a bitch, I doubt he thought anyone would find the place, let alone try to break into it," James reasoned, and Sirius snorted.

"Considering he just left the diadem laying around in the Room of Requirement, I think that's a fair point," he said, and James laughed.

"I think we should just head back," Remus sighed, looking down at the watch on his wrist, "it's about time for lunch, we can come back on the weekend with Lily and deal with this," he said, nodding towards the shack. Sirius scoffed.

"Moony, we can just go over there and rummage through it, and then head back home with the damn thing and eat a later lunch," he said, and began to make his way to the rubble.

"Since when has he condoned skipping a meal?" Remus murmured to James, who laughed, clapping Remus on the shoulder as they too made their way forwards.

"Not sure we really need Lily for some digging," Peter snorted, as he lifted the door, avoiding the large dead snake and throwing it to the side with a shudder.

"She'd probably have a field day with that dead snake," Sirius sniggered, nodding at the door Peter had thrown as he began to dig through the pile, "think we can just clear this mess with magic?" he asked, and the others shrugged. Sirius lifted his wand and waved it, face falling into a comically dark look as nothing happened, "fucking bastard, making us to manual labour, as if he's going to do this shit himself," he grumbled. James and Remus sighed, before leaning down and doing their part to lift various pieces of wood and rubble and-

"Bloody _ow_!" James squawked, pulling his right hand back and looking down at the large bleeding gash trailing from the base of his pointer finger across his palm, "Careful," he grumbled, cradling his hand as he eyed the sharp shard of glass sticking out of the rubble, "there's glass in there as well."

"Thanks," Sirius muttered angrily, noticing a piece of glass at his end and reaching around it. James attempted to lift another piece, and groaned as his hand stung from the movement.

"Might have to stop," he said through gritted teeth, glaring down at his bleeding hand, "unless I can heal the damn thing," he added, attempting to hold and maneuver his wand with his left hand.

"Here," Remus chuckled, pulling his own wand out and pointing it at the cut, "Wait, hold on, why isn't this working?" he frowned, waving it again, only for nothing to happen. James groaned.

"The glass must be enchanted so basic healing spells don't work on it. Lily will have to help me," he said, and Remus grimaced as James ripped off the bottom of his shirt, and wrapped it around the bloody hand.

"I reckon the glass means we're heading in the right direction," Peter said, as he came to a piece of it as well, "must be his idea of a booby trap."

"Clever," Remus snorted, his voice near-drenched with sarcasm, and the others laughed. They reached the end of the pile, and in the middle noticed a small black box.

"This feels too easy," James said, as neither of them made a move to grab the box.

"Prongs your hand is already mangled, you go for it," Sirius suggested, and James shot him a dirty look before taking a breath and leaning forwards. He paused, his fingers nearly touching the box, before taking another breath and closing his hand around it.

"That was needlessly dramatic," Remus snorted, as James pulled the box back and looked down at it curiously, before putting it in his pocket.

"Come on lads, let's put this pile of rubbish back so it looks like we were never here," Sirius chuckled, grabbing a piece of wood and throwing it on top of the glass. Remus and Peter groaned, before reaching down and doing the same.

"One down, gents," James grinned, patting his pocket.

* * *

"This day has been too long," Alma whined, as she lay herself down on the bench in the Healers Chambers, groaning loudly as she lifted her feet off the ground, "My poor feet, they've been attached to the floor for eons."

"Hello Alma," Lily giggled, closing her locker, fully dressed in her Muggle clothes, and shooting the girl an amused look, "busy day?"

"Oh, you think you're so witty," the girl grumbled, looking up at Lily through tired eyes, "You haven't seen what I've seen."

"You're right," Lily snorted, checking her wrist watch, "I've been very studious today. I went and brewed a bit, that was nice," she grinned, enjoying the memory of how natural making potions had felt.

"Show off, I've wrestled an entire dining set off a family, and that was just this last hour," she said, and Lily giggled at the thought, "Seriously Lily, these people are nuts, who even buys this rubbish? This bloke had a teapot on his head, he literally couldn't see," he said, and Lily giggled again, shaking her head.

"At least lunch was entertaining," Lily said suggestively, and Alma groaned loudly as she turned red, "Owen seemed to really enjoy your company."

"Stop it Lily," Alma squeaked, scrunching her eyes closed, "it was so embarrassing"

"I've never seen you so quiet."

"That makes us both," Alma snorted, and Lily grinned, patting her on the forehead consolingly, "You look nice, where are you off to?"

"Grabbing a few drinks with my friend Alice at the Leaky," Lily said, smiling happily at the thought of finally catching up with her friend, "She's getting married as well, think she's hoping for a very girly session," she said, and Alma laughed.

"Sounds lovely," she said, and Lily grinned, nodding, "I haven't had one of those in ages."

"I'm offended, we spent the better part of today giggling about Sirius and Hestia, if I do recall correctly," Lily tutted, and Alma snorted.

"Granted, but we're still at work. I haven't gone for a girly chat over a drink in so long."

"Let's do it sometime, then," Lily shrugged, and Alma grinned up at her.

"Yeah I'd like that, we'll bring Hestia along for the juicy details as well," she giggled as Lily mimed throwing up.

"Spare me," she scoffed, and Alma laughed, closing her eyes, "you going to sleep here?"

"I'll get changed and leave in a minute," Alma sighed, draping her arm over her face to shield her eyes from the bright lights, "go, enjoy your drinks."

"See you tomorrow," Lily bade her farewell, and turned on the spot, opening her eyes after the uncomfortable sensation to the streets of Diagon Alley. Waving to Florean Fortescue, she headed towards the Leaky Cauldron, enjoying the first few moments of silent solitude she'd had in days. She loved the boys, truly she did, but Merlin sometimes all she wanted was to sit by herself for a little while. Living with James was different, she'd done it all through Seventh Year, and bless his soul the boy understood her need for alone time. It was easier at Hogwarts though, with his Quidditch practice and full moon requirements. He'd be gone a few hours every week, and Lily could lie around the common room and do nothing, simply hum to herself or read a book. He was a wimp about alone time as well, the difference being that while Lily lashed out when she was frustrated, he retreated within himself and became moody and brooding for hours. Lily smirked, grateful he'd been left alone all day yesterday researching the village of Little Hangleton, there'd be no chance for a brooding James if he was afforded a few hours of peace every week.

Pushing open the door to the Leaky, Lily grinned. It was just as awful as she'd remembered. In one of the corners, a dodgy group of wizards, wearing red cloaks that covered their heads, were leaned in, whispering loudly. An old woman wearing what Lily assumed to be her entire collection of jewelry was sitting by herself in the middle, eyes dodging from side to side as she slipped a flask out of her robes and poured the contents into her drink, which began to smoke. Further in, Lily noticed a figure covered completely in bandages, like what a Muggle would call a mummy, with a straw sticking through the bandages on the face, sipping at a bottle of Firewhiskey. Chuckling to herself, Lily walked towards a booth by the wall, in which she saw one Alice Prewett furiously scribbling things down on a parchment.

"Is this a bad time?" she asked, approaching the table, smirking as Alice jumped, knocking her inkwell so it spattered droplets all over her parchment.

"Lily for Merlin's sake, cough or something next time," she gasped, clutching at her heart as Lily giggled, dropping her bag in the pew across Alice. Alice grinned up at her, as if finally registering that Lily had arrived, and squealed, pushing herself up and throwing her arms around Lily. Lily laughed, and hugged her friend back, "Oh Merlin Lily, can you believe we're getting _married_?"

"Depends on what you mean by we," Lily said suggestively, and Alice rolled her eyes, pushing Lily with enough force that she landed, giggling, on the bench beside her bag.

"You've been spending too much time with those boys," Alice tutted, and Lily laughed, hailing the barmaid, who made a gesture to let them know she'd be over soon.

"This isn't their fault actually, I've been spending most of my time with this girl at work," she said, and Alice's eyes twinkled.

"Tell me about work and your new friend! Oh it's been so bloody long since we last had a catch up," Alice added, rolling her eyes, her parchment forgotten, "Healer training must be exciting," she said, and Lily grinned, nodding.

"It's been great so far, I can't believe how fast time is going by though. My friend is the only other female trainee in our intake, her name's Alma, she's really very lovely," Lily said, before chuckling, "She's got an inappropriate sense of humour and radiates sarcasm," she said, and Alice laughed, shaking her head.

"Always been your type, that has, Lily," she said, and Lily snorted in agreement as Alice laughed.

"What is this, by the way?" Lily asked, waving her wand to clear the spattered droplets of ink from Alice's forgotten parchment.

"Oh, thanks," Alice said vaguely, capping her inkwell, "It's a letter."

"Specific, thanks," Lily said, and Alice rolled her eyes, lips twitching up into a smile.

"Speaking of sarcasm," she said, and Lily laughed, "Where is that bloody barmaid anyway? I've called her twice you know. And then you've called her once. Shoddy service, is what this is," Alice huffed, looking around and spotting the barmaid, raising her eyebrows and pointing at the table. Lily bit her lip, hiding a smile, "I should have her fired, did you just see the look she gave me?"

"Is that what the letter's for?" Lily asked, and Alice shot her an amused look.

"No, it's to the Daily Prophet."

"Why?" Lily asked, and Alice scoffed.

"Haven't you seen the Evening Prophet?" she asked. When Lily shook her head, Alice rolled her eyes, picking the aforementioned newspaper off the bench next to her and handing it to Lily, "Honestly, you need to keep up with current events girl, commercial awareness is a very employable skill," she tutted, and Lily rolled her eyes, grabbing the Prophet and unfolding it to reveal a large heading

 **MINISTRY DECLARES STATE OF WARTIME FOLLOWING ATTACKS**

Lily laughed, "I heard about this, the trainees were called in for this meeting today so they could break the news to us gently."

"Ridiculous," Alice snorted, "I think it goes to show just how stupid the Ministry is given the title of that piece. _Following_ attacks. Need I remind you these attacks occurred about a week ago. Not to mention the majority of the older generation, they're all acting like this is some big shock. Fucking Prophet as well, they can't even tell the news properly," she snorted, and Lily chuckled, "what? Don't agree?"

"No, I do," Lily chuckled again, eyes scanning the page, "I honestly just find their incompetence laughable at this point. I saw this article at work. They don't even mention the attacks of last week, these are all from weeks ago. And, to top it off, You-Know-Who and his Death Eaters aren't even mentioned once. I don't know why you bother with that letter," she said, and Alice sighed.

"I know, they've been dropping the ball a lot lately," she said, shaking her head, "but the point of the Prophet is that they're supposed to report everything as it is, not wait for the Ministry to make some grand declaration and conform to political motives," she said, and Lily hummed in agreement.

"I know," Lily said, clucking her tongue, "Hestia Jones was at Mungos the day of the attack, I'm surprised even with a Daily Prophet correspondent on the scene there wasn't a report," she said, and Alice quirked a brow.

"That just makes this worse," Alice tutted, looking down at the letter again, "I'm still going to send it, I think the more of these they get, the more likely they are to pull their shit together," she said. Lily watched her sign the letter off 'a disappointed reader', and smiled as Alice rolled the thing up, placing her quill and inkwell in her bag, "And, again," Alice huffed, turning to the room of the Leaky, "Where the fuck is that barmaid?"

"I don't think she likes you," Lily laughed, smiling as Alice shot her an amused look again, before raising in her seat, gesturing to the barmaid again, "besides, I thought you'd be more interested in the reintroduction of Hestia Jones to your life."

"Oh just don't Lily, I was so mature moving past the mention of that name before," Alice scoffed, and Lily laughed as Alice crossed her arms, "She was so full of herself after her sister got signed. I never liked her. She was always waving her bum around, not exactly an admirable trait."

"I don't know Alice, it takes a lot of skill to stay balanced while swaying your lower half like that," Lily teased, and Alice snorted.

"Yet we're the ones who are engaged. Excuse me if I don't bow down at her talented feet," Alice scoffed, and Lily laughed, shaking her head amusedly.

"Well maybe she changed, she sat with me at lunch a couple times at Mungos while her sister was in for a Quidditch injury, she seemed nice enough," Lily shrugged, and Alice rolled her eyes.

"Were you honoured that her bum touched the same surface as yours?"

"Alice," Lily giggled, shooting her a chastising look.

"She was always drooling all over the younger boys as well," Alice snorted, and Lily shook her head amusedly, knowing Alice was one of those people who very rarely dropped a grudge, "Remember how flirtatious she was with your boys? When they were _first years_? _First years_ Lily, it's sick."

"No actually," Lily laughed, eyes twinkling, "I don't remember her at all from Hogwarts."

"You were probably too busy reading a book or something," Alice said, letting out a peal of laughter as Lily shot her a look, clearly relaying that she was not amused.

"Well it's funny you should mention her and the boys, she stayed the night with Sirius," Lily said, and Alice's eyes widened comically. Lily grinned.

"She did _not_!" Alice squealed, clapping her hands, "Oh Lily, I'm so glad we met, I haven't heard a speck of decent gossip in weeks," she said, sniggering loudly, "figures that she and Sirius would have _relations_ ," Lily snorted at Alice's euphemism, "they're the same."

"How so?"

"Oh you know, gorgeous, flirtatious, very diplomatic about spreading their sexual prowess," Alice ticked the items on her fingers, and Lily bit back her smile, rolling her eyes to the ceiling, "oh of course, Sirius is your best mate as well now, you won't talk bad about him," Alice said, and Lily grinned, shaking her head slowly. Alice sighed, "Shame, you were much more fun when you hated those boys. Could always get a decent rant out of you."

"Thanks Alice," Lily deadpanned, and the girl snorted.

"Merlin I'm fucking dying here," Alice grumbled, and Lily laughed as Alice glared around the Leaky, gesturing wildly at the barmaid as she crossed the room, "I'm definitely having this barmaid fired, she's gone to that other table, they got here well after we did."

"She's probably intimidated by that massive ring on your finger," Lily laughed, as Alice's left hand shot up amidst her gesturing, "Merlin, I'm blinded," Lily giggled, shielding her eyes, and Alice rolled her eyes, grinning as she held her hand out, leaning forwards.

"Isn't it beautiful? I almost cried when Frank proposed, well, almost in front of him, that is. Obviously I had a good long howl in the loo later," she said, and Lily laughed, "But that was mostly because his mum came over with cake and I realized I was going to be stuck with her forever. Well, until she dies. But knowing her she'll stick around longer than she's destined to die just to wind me up," Alice sniffed, and Lily shook her head fondly.

"Is it hers?" Lily asked, nodding to the ring, and Alice scoffed.

"Frank has a brain. He knew I would never accept if I had to have his mother's ring," she said, grinning madly at Lily, "I think I have him fairly well trained at this point."

"Alice, be nice," Lily chastised playfully, and Alice giggled.

"Shut it Lily, you barely know Augusta Longbottom," Alice said the woman's name with an exaggerated posh accent, and Lily sniggered, "if she was Potter's Mum-"

"I am eternally grateful for Euphemia Potter," Lily cut her off, laughing as Alice rolled her eyes, "she's a doll."

"And she bloody loves you," Alice sneered, "my poor children are going to have such a nightmare with her," she snorted, and Lily smiled slightly, trying not to think of little Neville in the hands of his grandmother. As far as Lily was concerned, they were going to win, and Alice and Frank would be around to raise their son.

"Hello? Earth to Lily!" Lily started as Alice snapped her fingers in front of her face, and Alice rolled her eyes, "You're probably too busy swooning all over your fiancé and his perfect mum," she snorted, and Lily winked, earning a reluctant laugh from Alice, "give it here, my turn," Alice said excitedly, reaching forwards and pulling Lily's left hand into her own, "Tell me how he proposed!"

"You first!"

"What is it I can get yous?"

They both turned to see the barmaid standing next to them, arms crossed as she watched the scene in front of her, eyes zeroed in on Lily's hand in Alice's.

"Oh, thanks ever so much for finally making your way over here, we could have died of dehydration by now," Alice said, and Lily ducked her head to hide her laughter at the barmaids scandalized expression, "We'll have two butterbeers, actually, make that four, Merlin only knows how long it'll take you to come back again," Alice sniffed disdainfully, and looked back down at Lily's hand.

 _Sorry_ , Lily mouthed at the barmaid, who made a noise that sounded like a 'harrumph!' and turned on her heel.

"Franks proposal? Oh it was perfect, you know Frank, he had it all planned down to the second," Alice laughed lightly, grinning as her eyes glazed over dreamily, "He took me to the Three Broomsticks where we had our first date, and proposed to me in the same booth," she sighed, and Lily grinned, "it was so beautiful, Madam Rosmerta, you know, that woman who works there, she was all weepy. Completely trying to ruin our moment, but we made it work," she scoffed, and Lily laughed.

"And then you ran to the loo and howled?" Lily asked, and Alice rolled her eyes.

" _No_ Lily, I think Frank might have become a bit suspicious if I had. He is an Auror you know," she snorted, and Lily laughed.

"Well, so are you darling."

"Yes, but I'm just a baby Auror, I only qualified a few months ago, he's been one for over a year now. And, by the way Lily, my being an Auror doesn't make him less of one, or my acting skills any more effective," Alice scoffed, and Lily grinned, "I had my celebratory sob fest in my own loo later that evening after Augusta Longbottom made her grand appearance at Franks place while we were, er-"

"Celebrating?" Lily asked, and Alice nodded, blushing prettily, "she walked in while you were-?"

"Oh Merlin no, can you imagine? I think I'd have to break up with Frank, or poison her or something."

"Don't need to think too hard about which one you'd choose," Lily giggled, and Alice laughed.

"She walked into the living room as we were lying there, enjoying our post coital bliss. I haven't seen Frank dress so quickly, ever," Alice sniggered, and Lily smirked.

"At least he has that kind of decency in him. When Sirius walked in on James and me in Seventh Year, James didn't even have the decency to stop. Just grabbed a pillow and threw it at him so he'd get out. Didn't even miss a beat," Lily sighed, and Alice smirked.

"You mean a thrust?"

"Oh for heaven's sake, what is the matter with you?" Lily whined, flushing dark red as Alice laughed.

"I reckon it'd be different with his mum though," Alice reasoned, and Lily laughed, shrugging, "Probably. I mean, the number of times Frank and I got caught in Hogwarts-"

"Caught? By whom?" Lily squealed, laughing as Alice's expression darkened.

"Those bloody roommates of his. Fuck them all, honestly. They didn't seem to have the ability to cast a silencing charm themselves, felt the need to inform us every time, so they just drew back the curtains around his bed- no, seriously, they did that," Alice said, as Lily sputtered, "I was starkers, thank Merlin for Frank's large hands, he just placed them on my tits to cover me up until they had the decency to fuck off," Alice scoffed, and Lily laughed, "The only time in my life I've ever been thankful for my lack of breast," Alice shook her head, and Lily bit her lip to hold back a grin, "Bet that's more difficult for you," she mused, nodding at Lily's chest, and Lily rolled her eyes.

"Not that it's any of your business, but James' hands are massive," Lily said, and Alice smirked as her friend blushed a deep red, "Merlin I could use a drink," Lily sighed, and Alice frowned.

"Where the fuck are our butterbeers?" she sputtered, looking around and glaring at the barmaid, who jumped and ran behind ht ebar, obviously grabbing a few bottles to bring back to them, "useless service, truly, this place needs new management."

"Maybe you should take over," Lily giggled, and Alice snorted.

"You just know the customers would have excellent service under my reign."

"Your butterbeers," the barmaid said, placing four bottles on the table, "Tab's been opened at the bar, pay it off when you're done."

"Well maybe-"

"Thank you," Lily cut in, as Alice's eyes glinted with irritation. The barmaid turned and headed away, and Lily laughed, "leave her alone Alice, she's obviously got some sort of power trip having control of the drinks here."

"Some people," Alice snorted, and Lily grinned, "Oh! Hold on, we'll talk about James' proposal in a second, but I wanted to talk to you about my wedding," she said, and Lily perked up, taking a happy sip of her butterbeer, "Er, I was wondering if you'd be my Maid of Honour," she said, and Lily's eyes widened as she let out a loud squeal.

" _Alice_!" she squealed excitedly, reaching across and pulling her friend in for an awkward hug across the table.

"Is that a yes?"

"It's a conditional yes," Lily said, and Alice quirked a brow at her, "will you be mine?"

"Shut up Lily, what a stupid question," Alice giggled, pulling her in for another hug.

* * *

"Circe's bollocks, have you _seen_ this shit?" Sirius sniggered, entering his living room like a hurricane, hand clutching the Evening Prophet. The three boys looked up at him from where they were playing an intense game of Exploding Snap. Sirius smirked as he noticed Peter's singed eyebrows and Remus' soot covered hands.

"Circe doesn't have bollocks, twat. She's a woman," Remus snorted, and Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Considering I was the last person in this room to see a woman naked, that comment was unnecessary," Sirius scoffed, and James rolled his eyes.

"You were not-"

"Yes I was Prongs, you and Lily were fully clothed-"

"Yes but in terms of frequency-"

"What does the Prophet say?" Remus sighed, closing his eyes and shaking his head wearily as Peter snickered. There was a sizzling sound, and the boys leaned back as the cards exploded. Remus reached out and gathered them up, putting the deck away as he grumbled about stupid card games and burned hands.

"Yes, what made you feel the need to give Circe bollocks?" James sniggered, standing up and stretching, as Sirius cleared his throat and unfurled the newspaper.

"Ministry declares state of wartime following attacks," Sirius said loudly, and the other three snorted.

"Wow, observant aren't they," Remus deadpanned, and Sirius sniggered.

"Don't even bother reading it," he snorted, as James took the newspaper from him and began to scan the page, "it's bloody useless. Cites attacks from a couple weeks ago and doesn't even mention Death Eaters," he said, and James scoffed, throwing the newspaper on the bed with irritation.

"No wonder the world's going to crap, everyone's so bloody incompetent," James said, and the boys snickered.

"You-Know-Who knew what he was doing, struck while nobody was clever enough to notice," Sirius added, ripping the page off and sticking it to the wall.

"What are you doing?" Remus snorted, as the headline continued to flash on the wall above the dining table.

"Thought it would be nice to have some entertainment up," Sirius said, and the others laughed as the front door opened and Lily walked in. Her eyes shot to the clipping on the wall, and she laughed.

"You've seen it then," she laughed, and Sirius grinned at her, "they called us in for a meeting today at work, to break the news to us gently," she sniggered, and the Remus rolled his eyes.

"Ridiculous, surely the people at Mungos would show more sense, considering you've all dealt with the aftermath of the attacks," he said, and Lily shrugged, throwing a quick grin at James as she put her bag down on the dining table and allowed Sirius to pull her in for a one armed hug.

"I think the majority do, Cromwell was very much annoyed that people were surprised by the news," she said, and James chuckled.

"Well, I think we're all annoyed about that," he said, and Lily grinned.

"Oh Merlin!" she gasped, looking around at the four of them with wide eyes. Sirius quirked a brow, "I can't believe I haven't asked already. How was the village today? What happened?"

"Found a Horcrux, we did," Sirius smirked, nodding at the ring box, which was sitting innocently on the dining table. Lily gasped.

"What? I thought you were only going to inspect today!"

"Turns out there were no protective spells," Remus shrugged, eying the ring box, "just took some manual labour to dig it out of the rubble."

"Couldn't you have used magic?" Lily asked with a frown, and Peter shook his head.

"We tried, nothing would happen," he said, and Lily rolled her eyes.

"Worst protection ever," she said, and the boys laughed as she shook her head happily, eyes flickering back to the ring, "I can't believe you found it, I'm so proud of you," she said, beaming around the room. She turned to grin at James, who winked back at her. Her eyes wandered down and zeroed in on the scarlet mess that was his hand.

"James!" she gasped, hurrying over as he looked around in a panic, and grabbing his hand, bringing it up so she could examine it. It was still wrapped in what looked like the bottom of his shirt, and the cloth was completely soaked with blood, "What-"

"Cut it at the shack today," he said, waving off her concern as he began to unwrap the cloth and she saw the large gash underneath, "it doesn't hurt, but it hasn't stopped bleeding. Don't worry," he added, as her eyes widened, "I took a blood replenishing potion I found in your little box of emergency potions so I'm not dying, but I do need you to close it up, the basic healing spells we know aren't working," he said, gesturing around at the Marauders, and Lily sighed.

"Be more careful," she chastised, and James beamed down at her as she whipped out her wand and ran it along the line. He sighed a breath of relief as it stopped bleeding, not realizing it had still been hurting until it stopped. She ran her wand along the line again and he watched as the skin started to inch together, finally meeting and sealing his hand closed as she ran her wand along the wound a fifth time, "it takes too long to find other James' in the world."

"Yes dear," he chuckled, rolling his eyes as he saw Remus mime vomiting, earning snickers from Sirius and Peter.

"Don't be so asinine, you three," she chuckled, and the boys flushed as they realized they'd been caught, "it's like having children."

"Practice for the future," James said, and Lily shoved his shoulder gently, rolling her eyes as he grinned down at her with his signature cheeky grin, "how's Alice?"

"She's good, says hello," Lily said, standing on the tips of her toes to place a quick kiss on his chin once she let go of his hand, "lots of wedding talk."

"What's the word with that?" Peter asked.

"Well we decided on each other as our Maids of Honour," she said, beaming, and James grinned widely.

"So you _are_ thinking about the wedding!"

"Of course I am, I've got this thing don't I?" she laughed, wiggling her ring finger at him.

"Congratulations on both being and securing a Maid of Honour," Remus said.

"Yes, what he said," Sirius called from the kitchen, and Lily grinned happily, winking up at James, "Shame I can't sleep with her though, isn't that tradition for Maid of Honour and Best Man?" he smirked at Lily's eye roll as he walked out of the kitchen, leaning on the doorframe.

"Sirius, just don't make me hit you," she said, shaking her head, and he barked a laugh, "I've got this big rock on my finger now, so I promise it'd hurt," she said, and James chuckled, placing a gentle kiss on her temple as the other three snorted.

"Also, I reckon Hestia wouldn't be too thrilled," Remus smirked, and Sirius rolled his eyes. Lily was surprised to see his cheeks tinge pink, and looked up at James, bewildered. He simply smirked and nodded, and Lily's eyes widened as they shot back to Sirius.

"I think the real obstacle here is Frank," Lily laughed, and Sirius rolled his eyes.

"I could take him."

"Not where Alice is concerned," she said, and Sirius chuckled as James shook his head in agreement.

* * *

"Oh James," Lily sighed, pulling him into her arms and letting him bury his face in her shoulder as he blinked back tears, so she was sat up against the headboard, legs wrapped around him as he held her. They'd retired to their room for the night, after various prods from Sirius to Lily that James needed to talk to her about something, and she'd finally managed to get the story of the graveyard out of him, "you did the right thing, walking away."

"I wouldn't have," he croaked, his voice coming out muffled from where his lips were pressed against her skin, "if they hadn't stopped me I wouldn't have."

"There's no shame in that," she said gently, holding him tighter as she felt the skin of her collarbone dampen, "we've all our weaknesses. Anyone could understand how you were feeling," she murmured, pressing her lips lovingly into his hair.

"I don't know how you do it," he sighed, leaning back to look up at her. Lily's heart broke to see the glistening wetness of tears on his cheekbones, and the small droplets clinging to his long thick eyelashes, "how are you so calm about all this?"

Lily sighed, smiling slightly as she reached up and wiped his face, "I'm not, but I get a break from all this when I'm at work," she said, shaking her head slightly, "When I'm at Mungos with Alma and Cromwell, it's like I can live a different life, I pretend it's not happening, because nobody there knows what we do. Of course it's harder for you, love. You're surrounded by it all the time," she said, and he nodded, blinking quickly as he let out a long breath.

"I'm scared I won't be able to keep us safe," he said, "I'm scared we won't manage it all in time."

"Me too," she said cupping his cheek, "but today was a victory James," she smiled, nodding her head, "our _first_ real victory of the whole mission. You found one, we're on the right track, doesn't it reassure you that it was there? That we're not just plucking in the dark for what very well could have been fiction?" she asked, and James chuckled, nodding his head as her beautiful emeralds smiled into his, "James, I can't even express to you how relieved I am that it was there, and that you found it. We'll do this James, once the ball gets rolling down the hill, it's hard to stop. We'll find this one, and it'll motivate us to figure out how to destroy it and find the next one, and then another, then another, and soon we'll have found and destroyed them all," she said, grinning as he sighed, nodding his head in agreement as he wiped away his tears, "let's just focus on this victory, and the ones that will come. And then you and I, we'll live the rest of our lives together, we'll die an old bickering couple, Sirius will no doubt have moved into our house, so he'll be there bickering as well," she added, and James laughed, leaning forwards and pressing his lips against hers, hard.

"How do you do that?" he murmured between kisses.

"Why don't you just thank me?" she giggled, nibbling happily at his lower lip, and he chuckled, pulling back to kiss her on the forehead, hugging her to him. Lily hummed contentedly and buried her face into the crook of his neck, placing a gentle kiss there, "what was the village like?" she asked, trying to change the subject.

"Friendly," he snorted, and Lily smiled, snuggling further into him, "people kept smiling and waving at each other."

"What a revolting place," she giggled, and James chuckled, "truly, I don't know how you survived it."

"Had a chat with Sirius," he murmured, grinning as the conversation came back to him, "about Hestia."

James was startled by how quickly Lily's head shot up. She looked up at him, unbridled interest masking her face, "did he give you the juicy details?"

James let out a loud cathartic laugh, rolling them so he was resting on top of her, "Lily Evans, you naughty thing. I am shocked."

"Shut up," she giggled, pushing his quickly lowering mouth away, "tell me what he said!"

"We could be snogging right now, you realize that, right? And you want to talk about Sirius instead. Check your priorities Lily," he said, and she laughed at the nearly offended expression on his face.

"We could be snogging right now if _you'd_ just answered my question," she shot back, and he grinned down at her, pressing a quick kiss to her lips despite her feeble attempts to stop him.

"I think he likes her," he said, sounding genuinely perplexed about the whole thing, and Lily's eyes widened.

" _Actually_ likes her, or just, I don't know, likes her bum?" she asked, and James laughed, "James, really," she grumbled, turning red as he continued to cackle like a madman, burying his face in her hair so he wouldn't wake the others with his burst of hilarity.

"And to think, people thought _I_ had a one-track-mind," he chuckled, and Lily rolled her eyes, looking away from him, embarrassed, as he continued to snigger. He pressed a loving kiss on her cheek, reaching up and turning her head so her eyes met his, "he said he enjoyed talking to her, wanted to keep talking to her, didn't say a whit about her bum," he said, and Lily grinned.

"He _did_? That's so sweet," she smiled, "I don't think I've ever known him to actually fancy a girl, you know, properly," she said, and James chuckled.

"Neither have I, it's an interesting change," he said, and Lily giggled.

"What else did he say?"

"Lily," James sighed, shaking his head as she rejected a snog again, "can we talk about this later?"

"There is no later! I go to work in the morning and then they're around all the time," she said, shaking her head vigorously, "tell me now," she said, pointing her finger at him. James' eyes crossed as he looked down at it, eliciting a giggle from her, "stop it! Be serious."

"If you want Sirius all that badly, I can just go across the hall and get him," he said cheekily. Lily fixed him with a blank look, and he sniggered, "All right. What else did he say? Er, he said that he didn't realize the hours had passed while they were talking all night," he said, rolling his eyes as Lily positively sparkled gleefully, "Said she was a Niffler that made a mess in his head. Then he asked if that's what it felt like," he said, and Lily quirked a brow, eyes twinkling up at him mischievously.

"That's what what felt like?"

"Fancying someone, properly," he said, smirking as she grinned playfully.

"What did you say?"

"I said yes," he chuckled, and Lily giggled. James hissed as she lifted her leg, gliding her foot up his leg until her thigh was hooked around his hip, "Minx," he grunted, and she beamed up at him, wrapping an arm around his neck, effectively holding him in place.

"What else did you say?" she asked, smiling at him coquettishly as she drew circles on his bicep with her fingers.

"That I didn't think a shag with anyone else would ever feel god after you," he said, and Lily let out a peal of laughter.

"Mr. Potter you are a born romantic," she teased, "what else?"

"That I thought you'd gotten fat," he sniggered, and Lily rolled her eyes, attempting to disentangle her limbs from around him as he sniggered harder, holding her firmly in place, "no, sorry, you can't go," he said, and Lily narrowed her eyes at him, amused.

"I'm definitely not shagging you now," she said, crossing her arms, and James laughed, pouting hugely at her as he rested his forehead against her, "I even flirted with you."

"Love, you know you don't have to try that hard with me anymore," he chuckled, littering kisses on her jaw, "I've always been rubbish at signals."

"So my leg wrapped around you was too subtle for you, was it?"

"Add in a second leg, and we'll see."

Lily rolled her eyes, a traitorous grin spreading on her lips. She lifted both her other leg and wrapped it around him as well, raising her eyebrows expectantly.

"No, still nothing," James said, shaking his head, and Lily laughed, smacking at his chest as he settled himself comfortably in the cradle she'd created for his body, "maybe if I just-" he began to rock his hips into her, causing her to gasp as all sorts of delicious sensations to spasmed through her body, before stopping, shaking his head, "nope, that didn't work either," he said, smirking down at her. Lily narrowed her eyes at him.

Stupid ponce, he knew what he was doing.

"Seems to me like you've risen to the occasion, actually," she said, nudging a particular appendage, and James gasped, placing his hand on his heart as his eyes shone with humour.

"Lily Evans, you dirty thing, what are you sugges-"

"You're playing a dangerous game here, Potter," she giggled, cutting him off by weaving her hands around his neck and into his hair, enjoying the shudder that passed through him as she scraped her nails along his scalp.

"I'm not playing a game at all love, simply trying to decipher your mixed signals," he said. He would have been the picture of innocence, had he not been grinning lecherously down at her, "what is it you want?"

"Fuck you," Lily laughed, attempting to disentangle her limbs from around his body, but he grinned, pinning her in place with his hips as he ran his hands up and down her thighs, holding them at his waist.

"Well if that's what you want, by all means-"

"You are the biggest pain in the arse I have ever met," Lily groaned, lips quirking up at the sides as he began to snicker again.

"Well I find that surprising love, we've never done anything involving the arse-"

"James Potter!" she squeaked, slapping him on the shoulder repeatedly as he grinned down at her

"If you're interested, we could-"

"You are impossible," Lily giggled, threading her fingers through his thick hair and pulling him down to her, "Just get down here already."

* * *

"Sirius"

"Sirius"

"Oh for Merlin's sake, Sirius!"

Sirius started, sitting up with a yelp as something touched his face. He heard a quiet giggle, and rubbed his eyes, making out through the darkness the silhouette of a girl sitting on the edge of his bed. He blinked, squinting at it.

"It's me, you idiot," the girl whispered, and Sirius frowned.

"Hestia?"

"Don't tell me there are other girls who crash your bedroom in the middle of the night," she scoffed, and Sirius felt his mouth pull up into a grin.

"You apparated into my room in the middle of the night?"

"Don't be dramatic, it's not that late," Hestia whispered, and Sirius grinned as he heard the sound of clothes hitting his floor, before she pulled back the covers and lay down, pulling them back over herself.

"Lying naked in people's beds, are we?"

"I'm not naked, go to sleep," she whispered, and he snorted, reaching over to grab his wand and whisper a quick _Lumos_ , "Merlin and Agrippa, Sirius, switch that damn thing off," she squeaked, reaching her hand up to cover her eyes, "it's night time."

"I was asleep," he said, still grinning like a lunatic, "you're the one who accosted me."

"There was no _accosting_ , Merlin you're dramatic, now go to sleep, I'm tired. My stupid sister snores like a train," she said, turning away from him, and he grinned, wordlessly turning off the light of his wand, putting it back on his bedside table, and sidling up behind her, wrapping an arm around her waist, "good night."

Sirius grinned as she threaded her fingers through his hand at her stomach and sighed contentedly.

* * *

 **Another chapter down! I'm hoping to stick to my weekly updates so pray for me (and also review, it'll make me feel like people are waiting on me).**

 **Lots of emotions in this chapter, I thought we should probably see where the boys' heads are at, especially James and the desperation he must be feeling, given this whole mission has such high stakes for him and Lily.**

 **I looked it up, the war on Voldemort actually starts in 1978 (this year in the story), so I'm trying to show a progression of it advancing and getting worse throughout the story.**

 **Updates will be on TUESDAYS**

 **Ta!**


	10. Moves

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or the rights to it**

* * *

"It's been almost two weeks, you know," Lily whispered, quirking a brow at Sirius. The two of them were standing in the small kitchen, speaking quietly so as not to wake up Remus and Peter. It was early, Lily was getting ready to head off to Mungos for the day, and Sirius had cornered her to talk about Hestia.

"Yes, thanks Evans, I had no idea," he hissed, rolling his eyes as he took another sip of coffee.

"There's no need to be snarky, it's your own fault," she chided, spreading strawberry jam on a piece of toast. She looked up to shoot him a stern look, "and it doesn't surprise me that you haven't heard from her since she showed up and crawled in your bed. You haven't made one move-"

" _I_ made the first move," he scoffed, shifting backwards onto the counter, legs dangling towards the floor as he accepted the piece of toast from Lily.

"Yes, congratulations," Lily snorted, "but she did show up here in the middle of the night. You haven't spoken to her since."

"Oh, what, so it's my turn again?" he snorted. When Lily simply shrugged, Sirius groaned and looked up towards the ceiling, as if praying for patience, "Fucking birds, you're all insane."

"Maybe keep the insults to a minimum when wooing her," she tutted, and Sirius rolled his eyes again, taking an angry bite out of the toast.

"I should've just gone to Prongs, he was all for dangling the bait," he said, and Lily snorted.

"Is that some sort of euphemism?"

"Lily Evans, you dirty thing," Sirius sniggered, as Lily smirked, taking a bite of her own toast as she sifted through her purse, making sure she had everything she'd need for the day, "Did you just make a snide reference to my-"

"Yes, there's no need to make such a big deal," Lily sighed, as the boy continued to snicker, "You know, some of us have to go to work. I can't stand around here all day talking about your phallus."

Sirius barked a laugh as a throat cleared from the doorway, and Lily turned to see James standing there, smirking, "Want me to leave so you can continue to discuss Sirius' phallus?"

"Yes, if you don't mind," she winked at him.

"Shouldn't you be leaving?" James chuckled, walking towards her and dropping a quick kiss to her temple, as he reached around her to pour himself some coffee, "It's already five to."

"I'll leave in a minute," Lily said, waving off his concerns and turning back to Sirius, "Like I was saying-"

"Oh goodie, phallus talk," James sighed dejectedly, and Lily whacked his arm, lips pursed as she shot him an amused look.

" _You_ are going to have to do something if you want to see her again," she said, and Sirius groaned again, "Especially given that this whole 'waiting for something to happen' plan has produced no results," she added, and James grinned, nodding his head like a puppet as Sirius turned to him for a second opinion.

"It's been two weeks," James added, and Sirius shot him a look that read he was clearly not being helpful. James simply grinned, leaning down to take a bite out of Lily's toast. Lily rolled her eyes, handing him the thing.

"Take it," she snorted, and James grinned.

"Oh _Lily_ , you _do_ love me!"

"And you clearly want me to starve," she teased, threading her arm through the straps of her bag. James gasped.

" _Starve_? Lily I'm simply helping you maintain your girlish figure," he said, eyes twinkling, and Lily snorted.

"Rude," she said, turning her head to Sirius as her stupid boyfriend continued to snicker. She raised her eyebrows, and Sirius groaned, dropping his head back against the cupboards behind him.

" _Fine_ Evans, I'll do it," he whined, and Lily grinned self-satisfactorily.

"Well, my work here is done, don't do anything stupid while I'm gone," she said, winking at James, who grinned at her with jam-coated teeth.

"Attractive," Sirius snorted as Lily giggled.

"I think he's cute," she said, pinching James' chin and bringing his face down to plant a kiss on his lips, "Be nice," she added, throwing a scolding look at Sirius, who rolled his eyes.

"Cute, my arse," he snorted, as James kissed Lily once more.

"Mm, I've heard it's cute," she said, winking at Sirius, who rolled his eyes, failing to fight off his amused grin, as James sniggered and kissed Lily again, "Right, I'm off," she said, extracting herself from James' arms, smirking as he pouted down at her, before turning on the spot.

"You two make me sick," Sirius scoffed, and James grinned.

"Thanks."

"Why are you so happy today?" Sirius snickered, as James near danced to the coffee machine to make another one, "had a few too many essence of euphoria potions?"

"Better," James winked, and Sirius rolled his eyes as the boy sniggered dirtily.

"I do not need to hear about-"

"So glad you asked," James cut him off, hopping on the counter next to him. Sirius rolled his eyes, taking another bite out of his toast, "we had a magical night, the two of us, got barely a wink of sleep, and-"

"I said I did _not_ -"

"Padfoot, really, I think you're far too interested in my sex life. Well, since you're asking, we started off-"

"PRONGS!" Sirius squawked, shoving the sniggering James off the counter, "Go shower or something, Merlin you're disgusting."

"Really, Padfoot, sex is a beautiful and natural part of life," James said, before shooting Sirius a wicked smile, "Well, it's a part of _my_ life-"

"You're too happy, go away," Sirius grumbled, and James sniggered.

"You're just horny," he said, "you can't deal with us sexually satisfied, nay, _over_ -satisfied men in your deprived state," he added, and Sirius shot him a sardonic look as James hummed happily to himself, trouncing out of the kitchen, ruffling a sleepy Remus' hair as the werewolf stumbled towards the kitchen.

"The fuck is his problem?" Remus grumbled, rubbing his eyes as he headed for the coffee. Sirius snorted, taking another bite, "the fuck is _your_ problem?"

"My phallus, Remus, that's the problem," Sirius sighed. Remus blinked, stopping dead in his tracks, before rolling his eyes and turning on his heel, heading straight out of the kitchen, "Moony!"

* * *

"Lily, thank Merlin you're here!" Lily started, accidentally scrawling a line across her page with her quill as Alma near shouted, skidding around a corner in her haste to make it to the redhead, "I need your help."

"What's the matter?" Lily asked, sighing as she whipped out her wand and traced it along the top of her clipboard, removing the line, as Alma stopped in front of her. Lily was in the library catching up on paperwork for Damien's case, which for the past few weeks she had been solely responsible for. To her pleasure, he was healing beautifully, his skin no longer a charred black but an angry red. His personality was still unpleasant to bear, but she reckoned she couldn't win every battle.

"It's him, he's doing it again," Alma squeaked, falling into the chair beside Lily. She looked lovely, Lily noticed, her chocolate hair braided to the side, and…

"Alma, are you wearing makeup?" Lily asked, bewildered, interrupting whatever the girl was going to say next, and Alma froze.

"No."

"Are you sure?" Lily asked, frowning as she leaned in closer, "You look different."

"Maybe you just haven't noticed my beauty before."

Lily shot her a sardonic look, and Alma sighed, "Can't a witch just feel like making an effort once in a while?" Lily raised her eyebrows.

"But why are you making an effort?"

"Lily, really, can't you just listen to my problems?" Alma huffed, crossing her arms moodily and leaning back in the chair, blowing the few strands of hair that had escaped from near her forehead out of her face.

"Please go ahead, I apologize for being so self-involved," Lily snorted, and Alma smirked at her.

"I accept your apology love," she winked, and Lily rolled her eyes, lips pulling up in the corners as she picked up her quill and continued to write her reports, "but like I was saying, he's doing it again. He's showing up everywhere I am. The same ward, the same floor. It's maddening, it's like he's _deliberately_ tryingto drive me completely fucking insane-"

"It's clearly working," Lily murmured. Alma shot her an annoyed look, but otherwise ignored her as she continued on.

"And he keeps attempting to come over and talk to me-"

"The nerve of him," Lily said under her breath

"But I refuse to give him that kind of satisfaction. Not me, no sir. Fuck him and his attempted hello's, I don't need those in my life. I'm doing perfectly find without them, you know. I'm successful. I'm hot, don't you think I'm hot Lily?"

"Yes, sure, gorgeous," Lily chuckled.

"Yes, thank you, I mean, it's not like I need him to be trying to talk to me, he's trying to distract me, you know? And I figured it out this morning Lily, I finally pieced it together, I think he's trying to sabotage me," Alma finished, slamming her hand on the table for dramatic effect.

Lily finally gave up on attempting to work and put down her quill, turning to face Alma with an amused expression on her face, "Sabotage you?"

"Yes!" Alma exclaimed. Lily winced as a few Healers shushed them from the next table. Alma ignored their disapproving glances, and stared at Lily imploringly, "It's sabotage. It's a conspiracy. They're trying to take us down."

"They? Us?" Lily giggled, and Alma frowned at her.

"You're not taking this seriously, there are only two of us, two of us _female_ trainees. Think it's a coincidence?"

"Oh, it's the patriarchy again," Lily said, nodding in understanding, and Alma snapped her fingers, grinning like a lunatic.

"You see it too! They're targeting us, they want us to be those witches who get married young and shoot out a dozen little babies-"

"A dozen? Are you mad?" Lily snorted. Alma shot her a blank look, and Lily flushed.

"I mean, that's clearly not the point," Alma snorted, and Lily grinned at her friends' frustration, " _They_ are the male trainees, they're targeting us Lil!"

"Nobody's done anything to me," Lily giggled, "and it's not _they,_ it's just _him_ , you know, Ow-"

"Don't say his name!" Alma hissed, looking around, and Lily rolled her eyes, amused, "He could be here."'

"You are paranoid," Lily snorted. They were quiet for a few moments, before Lily gasped, "Oh Merlin! That's why you're wearing makeup!" she hissed, and Alma flushed.

"No it's not."

"So it's not because Owen the cute Scottish trainee keeps popping up around you?" Lily giggled, and Alma looked around them again in a panic, "Or because he keeps suggesting you go for dinner together?"

"It's the conspiracy, I'm telling you, he's trying to take me down-"

" _You_ are in denial," Lily giggled, shaking her head amusedly as Alma glared at her, " _he's_ trying to take you to dinner, _you_ are scared of commitment, that's what's happening."

"Lily, haven't you been listening? It's the _patriarchy_ -"

"Your being female is a factor, yes, but it's not the patriarchy this time," Lily giggled, and Alma flushed, hiding her face in her forearms, which were crossed on the table, "You like him."

"He's dangerous," Alma's muffled voice came, and Lily giggled, "I can't speak when I'm around him. I freeze up like a stupid little girl. He's taking me down, chipping my dignity away bit by bit."

"Your life is so tragic," Lily giggled, and Alma groaned again, "Why don't you just say yes?"

"Because then he _wins_ Lily," Alma said exasperatedly, picking her head up to look at her, "I can't let him _win_."

"But if you get to go out with the guy you like, then you win too," Lily said, and Alma huffed, crossing her arms irritably as Lily grinned.

"You don't understand anything," she scoffed, and Lily laughed, picking up her quill and continuing to write.

"We've had this conversation almost every day for the past week," Lily said, and Alma snorted.

"Then I should have known you'd be useless today as well," she scoffed, and Lily rolled her eyes as the frustrated witch stomped away.

* * *

"I think Lily's right," Remus mused, watching in amusement as Sirius grumbled, pacing up and down the living room between Remus' and Peter's beds. James sniggered from where he was sitting at the dining table, reading the Morning Prophet.

"Of course you do, you two are practically the same person," Sirius scoffed, and James guffawed.

"That's news to me," he said, and Remus rolled his eyes, throwing some balled up socks at him as James' sniggers renewed.

"Pathetic," Remus muttered, looking between Sirius, who was practically pulling his hair out, and James, who was now sniggering so hard he'd closed the paper, "both of you, completely pathetic."

"Oi!" Sirius barked, and Remus rolled his eyes.

"That's not very nice Moony, you're supposed to be in love with me, being the same as Lily and all," James sniggered, and Remus groaned, slapping his palm to his forehead.

"Oh just fuck off, the both of you, don't you have things to do?" he grumbled, and Sirius narrowed his eyes at him.

"Don't _rush_ me, Moony, I won't do my best work."

"And where am I supposed to go?" James near-whined, pouting at Remus, who groaned, lowering down onto his bed and dropping his head in his hands, "Also the Prophet hasn't reported the attacks from last week, fucking typical. Lily didn't come home for days, remember?"

"What else is new?" Sirius snorted, before shooting James a dirty look, "And don't talk about the fucking Prophet, makes me think of Hestia."

"Why not?" James squawked, letting out a manly squeal as Sirius snatched the paper out of his hands, crumpled it up and threw it at the floor, "I was reading that, you stupid sod. It's not my fault you're fucking irrational, like a bloody woman."

"Twat," Sirius shot back, and James glared at him, leaning down to pick it up.

"As I was saying, I was reading in _the Prophet_ -"

"Oh Prongs get off your fucking high horse-"

"The fuck is your _problem_ Padfoot-"

"I can't do a whole day of this. Thank Merlin I have Wormtail," Remus grumbled, head still buried in his hands, rolling his eyes again as the two boys instantly forgot their argument and let out noises of protest.

"I'm off!" Peter called cheerfully, walking into the living room, fully dressed in muggle jeans and a button down top, a rucksack slung over his shoulder.

"Where the fuck do you think you're going?" Remus squawked, jumping to his feet angrily and storming over to Peter, who took a step back, alarmed.

"Home?" Peter squeaked uncertainly, shooting confused looks between James and Sirius, who'd broken down in peals of laughter.

" _Why_?"

"We, I mean, we decided this yesterday," Peter said, frowning up at Remus, "To make it official we were back from our travelling in time for Sirius and James to start Auror training in a few weeks," he said, and Remus huffed, "so I'm going to go see my mum."

"Well, you can't," Remus huffed, and Peter quirked a brow at him, "I cannot be left alone with these two, not today," he said, gesturing to the still giggling James and Sirius.

"Why, what's the matter with them?" Peter asked, and Remus groaned.

"Thanks Wormtail, there's nothing wrong with us," James said, tipping an invisible hat at Peter, who looked at Sirius, who'd renewed pacing angrily, confused.

"They're acting odd," he said to Remus, who shot him a blank look, "I'm not staying," he said, shaking his head, blue eyes wide, and Remus gaped as the other two burst out laughing.

"Don't be so _selfish_ -"

"Every man for himself, good luck mate," Peter said, turning on the spot with a salute before Remus, who'd surged forwards, could grab him.

"The little shit," Remus hissed, glaring at the spot Peter had last been in.

"Such language," James tutted, turning a page in the Prophet, and Remus groaned, slapping his palm to his forehead as Sirius started to grumble about crazy women and moves.

* * *

"Lily!"

Lily groaned and dropped her head into her hands as the chirpy voice of Hestia Jones reached her ears in the fifth floor tearoom. Alma had been dragged onto a case and would be working through lunch, and Lily had been grateful for some uninterrupted alone time, in which she wouldn't have to listen to tales of woe about other people's pathetic love problems. Thank Merlin she had James.

"Oh Lily, I'm so glad I ran into you!" Hestia threw herself into the seat across from Lily, once more dressed to perfection. Lily almost sobbed as she took in Hestia's bright clothing and perfectly done hair and makeup.

"What are you doing here?" Lily near-whined. She knew what was coming, how could she not? Sirius talk. She'd already spent this morning having Hestia talk with Sirius, and Owen talk with Alma. Hestia flushed.

"I came to see you," Hestia shrugged, flicking a strand of hair over her shoulder, grinning widely at Lily. She flushed again, before clearing her throat, "I mean, I'm also working on an investigative piece on all the attacks and how frequent they are, not to mention the Prophet's significant lack of decent reporting," she snorted, and Lily's lip twitched.

"Nice to know there's at least one person there who can do their job," Lily said dryly, and Hestia shot her an amused look.

"Willing to give an interview?" Hestia winked, and Lily rolled her eyes, smirking

"No thanks, doubt I'll be a credible source anyway, being a trainee and all," Lily said, and Hestia laughed. The two fell into a silence, and Lily took a bite of her food, holding back a smirk as she watched Hestia twitch nervously, wringing her hands as she looked down at the table.

"Er, Lily, listen-"

"Finally," Lily laughed, and Hestia looked up at her, confused, "Have you been practicing restraint? That was a whole four minutes you didn't bring up Sirius," Lily giggled, and Hestia flushed, narrowing her eyes at the redhead.

"That's not very nice Lily," she grumbled, and Lily giggled harder, "I need your help."

"With what?" Lily sighed, grinning at Hestia, who huffed, crossing her arms and looking off to the side.

"He hasn't spoken to me in over two weeks, literally no contact. The last time I saw him was when, er, when-" Hestia trailed off, her cheeks turning a fiery red. Lily grinned.

"When you crawled into his bed in the middle of the night?" she suggested, laughing as Hestia near collapsed in relief.

"Oh Merlin, so he told you, good, I'm glad, now we're on the same page," she said, grinning at Lily, before her expression dropped comically and her eyes narrowed, "So you know why he hasn't contacted me then, don't you?"

"Er, no," Lily said, shrinking slightly under Hestia's accusatory glare, "I don't know anything," she said, and Hestia glared. Her harsh exterior broke and she signed, dropping her elbows onto the table and placing her chin in her hands.

"I get it, your loyalty is to him here, I know that," she sighed once more, looking so dejected Lily almost caved and told her, "I just, I really like him, I don't know what happened," she sighed again, and Lily smiled gently, reaching out to pat her gently on the arm.

"It'll all be okay," she said, and Hestia smiled at her.

"Was I too forward?" Hestia asked, and Lily snorted.

"For _Sirius_?"

"Touché," Hestia laughed, and Lily giggled with her, "Mind if I stick around for a bit? Want to get some more information on how many attacks exactly there have been," she said, and Lily shrugged, grabbing her tray and standing up as Hestia did the same, pulling out a quill and a piece of parchment as Lily put her tray away

"Be my guest," she grinned.

"Thanks," Hestia winked, before smiling at Lily, "and thank you."

"Any time," Lily chuckled. The two girls continued down the corridor in comfortable silence, Hestia scribbling down dates and columns and ideas as Lily watched on, amused.

"Let's do drinks soon?" Hestia asked, stopping at the top of the staircase as Lily began to make her way down. Lily turned to look up at her, and smiled.

"Sure, as long as nothing comes up," she said, and Hestia nodded seriously.

"We'll bring Bancroft as well," she added, and Lily grinned, nodding her head. Hestia sent her a quick 'ta!' over her shoulder as a senior Healer walked past, hurrying after the woman before she missed her chance. Lily chuckled and continued to make her way back to Cromwell's ward.

* * *

"Can you two please just stop?" Remus near whined, as James and Sirius started to snigger again, "I don't need this shit in my life."

"Nobody's talking about shit, Moony," James tutted, and Sirius sniggered as Remus rolled his eyes.

"Really Moony, didn't know you lived such a kinky lifestyle," Sirius sniggered, wagging his brows, and James howled with laughter as Remus shot Sirius a disgusted look.

"That's horrendous, you make me sick," Remus muttered, crossing his arms as the two buffoons continued to howl with laughter.

"Nobody's judging you Moony," James sniggered, and Remus groaned, hiding his face in his hands, "If you like to have your cake and shit on it too, I'll still be your friend," he winked.

"How Lily agreed to marry you, I'll never know," Remus muttered, and James sniggered happily.

"Well its interesting you should say that after all the talk of kinkiness," James smirked. Remus stood up and stormed out of the living room as Sirius roared with laughter, clapping his best mate on the shoulder.

"You'd think you two would be more focused on the fucking Horcrux hunt, rather than your pathetic sex lives," Remus called from the kitchen, and James scoffed.

"Speak for yourself, mine's not pathetic at all, I had sex this very morning, thank you very much," James sniffed.

"And I slept with Hestia Jones," Sirius said smugly, and James rolled his eyes.

"Two weeks ago, you can't keep using that," James snorted, and Sirius shot him a nasty look as Remus' guffaw sounded from the kitchen.

"Well when was the last time Moony had sex, hm?" Sirius scoffed, and Remus rolled his eyes as he walked back into the living room, a cup of tea in hand.

"I'd say not having sex was less pathetic than having sex once a few weeks ago and bragging about it," he said, shooting Sirius a sweet smile as he sat cross-legged on the floor, opening the book he'd been reading earlier.

"Oh fuck off Moony, at least I know my dick still works."

"What's wrong with Moony's?" James asked, frowning at Sirius and Remus, the latter of whom snorted.

"Nothing's wrong Prongs, I do appreciate your concern though," he drawled, and James shot him a wink.

"Wouldn't be a great friend if I didn't care, now would I?"

"I'd say a great friend wouldn't talk about my dick," Sirius snorted, and the other two laughed.

"But Padfoot, if we can't talk about our pricks is it even real friendship?" James gasped, and Sirius rolled his eyes, shoving at James as Remus continued to snicker.

"So can we get off this ridiculous tangent and get back to talking about the ring please?" Remus whined, and James beamed.

"You want to hear about how I proposed _again_? Really Moony, I think you're too obsessed," James tutted, and Remus rolled his eyes, smirking, as Sirius groaned loudly.

"If I have to hear _any more_ about that _fucking_ proposal-"

"You see, you absolutely picked the wrong best man," Remus said, nodding at Sirius, who shot him a dark look as James guffawed, "at least I care to ask."

"You know damn well you were talking about the Horcrux," Sirius muttered, and James beamed at him, ruffling Sirius' hair, earning a slap in the hand for it.

"Prove it," Remus challenged, raising his eyebrows, and Sirius narrowed his eyes.

"Boys," James said in a tired voice, "Can we just focus please?"

"Well I was asking for your advice before Moony went all fucking snarky," Sirius huffed, and Remus snorted.

"We have talked Hestia to death at this point, I refuse to hear much more about how fucking glorious she is and your fictitious moves."

"My moves are not _fictitious_ -"

"Then make one," Remus said simply, and Sirius stopped short. James smirked.

"Moony one, Padfoot zero," he sung, and Remus shot him a smirk as Sirius blinked stupidly.

"So, the Horcrux," Sirius said, after clearing his throat, and Remus smirked, looking back down at his book.

"Yes?" James responded, an amused tone laced into his voice.

"Where do we keep it?" Sirius asked, and James shrugged.

"We could leave it here?" he suggested, and Remus sighed.

"He's right, but what if we get found out? We'll have no time to come back for it," he reasoned, and James sighed.

"Well one of us could keep it, but then the whole possession shit could happen," he said, and Sirius frowned.

"But it's a ring."

James and Remus exchanged a confused look after a few moments of silence, before Remus finally asked, "And?"

"Well, see, in those books, people only got possessed if they spilled their soul to the thing yeah?" Sirius asked, and the two boys nodded, "Well how do you do that to a ring? No-one is wearing it, and we can't write in it, so…"

Sirius trailed off, and considered the other two's bewildered expressions with a feeling of irritation, "I mean, there's no need to be so surprised by my intellect," Sirius snorted, and Remus rolled his eyes as James chuckled, "I'm almost offended."

"Almost is new, a refreshing change," James said, grinning at Sirius, and Remus sniggered as the boy rolled his eyes and shoved James again.

"So we can just make sure it's always with one of us," Sirius said, and the boys shrugged. James reached over and put the ring box in his pocket, "Oh, helpful," Sirius snorted, and James winked at him as Remus laughed.

"So wha-"

A loud pop sounded in the middle of the living room, and when they looked up a panicked, sobbing Alice was standing there.

"LILY?"

"Alice?" Sirius said, confused, making to get up.

"LILY!"

"She's not here," Remus said, shooting an alarmed look at Sirius, who was staring, frozen, at Alice. James hurried over and put his hands on Alice's shoulders.

"Alice, what's wrong? What's the matter?" he asked gently, shaking her slightly. Alice looked up into his face and burst into tears, dropping her head to his chest. James tentatively put his arms around her shoulders and hugged her as she sobbed freely, shooting a fearful look at his two friends, who were exchanging wary looks, "Alice?"

"G-G-Gideon an-and F-F-F-Fabian," she wailed.

* * *

"Oh for fucks sake," Alma groaned, closing her eyes tight. Lily giggled as Owen made his way into the ward, taking notes aggressively, following his Healer. There had been a lot of commotion that afternoon as an older gentleman had run in with a broken leg, followed by a flock of illegally enchanted chairs, which had taken to spurring around Mungos, knocking unsuspecting people so they were seated in them, scratching at them and leaving deep gashes to pull them in and prevent escape. The situation had resolved when the Ministry officials had come in to claim (and destroy) the chairs.

"His supervisor is in charge of illegal objects, what do you expect?" Lily asked, smirking as Alma's gaze flickered over to the handsome Scottish boy repeatedly.

"Oh shut up, shouldn't you be in pain or something?" Alma demanded. Lily giggled again, wincing slightly as Alma continued to heal some of the deep scrapes on the back of her legs, from a rogue chair that had managed to seat her.

"Your troubles are providing sufficient distraction," Lily quipped, giggling as Alma swatted her bum with the end of her wand before continuing the healing, "You should just allow him to take you out."

"Oh, I should allow him that honour?" Alma scoffed, rolling her eyes, "Why?"

"Because he's cute," Lily giggled, as Owen, noticing Alma and Lily, threw them a small grin, "and he likes you."

"What if I don't like him?" Alma demanded, blushing furiously and sending an awkward twitch at him in response. Lily laughed loudly, causing the brunette to blush harder, "Oh shut up Lily, I'm not going to allow him to bed me just because-"

" _Bed_ you?" Lily wheezed, biting her tongue to hide her laughter, "Firstly, when did you turn eighty and why wasn't I invited?" Alma snorted, "and secondly, I never told you to bloody sleep with him, just go eat a meal with the boy, you and I eat meals together every day."

"Yes, but I don't want to jump you," Alma scoffed, "no offence," she added, and Lily burst out laughing, "these fucking gashes, why won't they heal?"

"It's the enchantment," a deep voice said from next to them, and the girls jumped. Lily lifted her head and almost choked at the sight of Owen the trainee grinning at Alma, "All right, Bancroft?"

When Alma didn't answer for a few moments, Lily cleared her throat, "do you know how to fix them, then?"

Before Owen could answer, Healer Cromwell rushed over, "Lily dear, I-" she cut off, expression falling as she registered Lily's position on the bed and the large gashes on the backs of her legs, "Oh dear, they got you, darling are you-"

"I'm fine," Lily smiled, wiggling her legs slightly to return some feeling. She held back a wince as the movement stung, "Is everything-"

"No actually, another attack it seems, I actually would need some help, but if you're not-"

"No! No I'm good," squeaked Lily, sitting up so fast Alma took a step back instinctively, "I'll come help, truly, they barely even hurt."

Cromwell shot Lily a disapproving look, and regarded her silently for a few moments. Having sat through many a meeting with Dumbledore in her Head Girl days, Lily stayed still and silent, waiting for the assessment, "well come along then," she sighed, and Lily grinned, hopping off the bed and shooting a wink at a very flabbergasted Alma, who was nervously looking for a quick escape from Owen.

"So what happened?" Lily asked, hurrying to keep up with a very stressed Cromwell, attempting to ignore the aches and stabs of pain from the backs of her legs, "another attack?"

"We're fairly certain," she said, shooting Lily another look as a traitorous wince escaped the redhead, "Lily really, there's no need, I know you want to help-"

"No honestly, I promise I wouldn't help if I couldn't," Lily said, shooting the older woman a reassuring smile. Cromwell nodded, her lip twitching slightly in response as she turned forwards again, a grim expression on her face. Lily sighed.

The past few weeks had been so full of attacks, it had taken a toll on everyone at Mungos. She herself had had multiple back-to-back shifts to cater to the massacres that occurred as a result from the Death Eaters behavior. Cromwell, Lily had noticed, had become much more reserved, and much less cheerful in the past few weeks, as the reality of the war sunk in. Lily and Cromwell had lost no less than fifteen lives in the past two weeks, as a result of fatal injuries and endless torture. Seeing bodies in such a mangled state had rendered Lily a tearful mess so many time she couldn't even count, she'd lost track of the days she'd apparated straight into their bedroom, and hearing her sobs, James had calmly walked in and put his arms around her. The other boys had learned that this ritual meant another attack, and when she'd leave the room, they'd be somber, eyes flickering over to the Horcrux sitting like a maddening reminder of their reality in the middle of their flat.

The boys had spent the past couple weeks madly researching ways to destroy a Horcrux, as having the ring in the flat felt like a beacon, a dreadful call for Voldemort to show up and kill them. Everyone had been on edge for a few days, jumping at every noise and peering outside the curtains, in case Death Eaters had figured out they had the Horcrux. Lily had barely had time to help them; so busy she'd been catering to the wizarding community and their sorrows.

"So, it's just a handful of people this time," Cromwell sighed, as she and Lily walked down to the ground floor. There were still remnants of scorch marks from where the Ministry had attacked and missed rogue chairs, and Lily smirked at the site of a small child mimicking the chairs as his parents laughed, "I was told it wasn't all that bad, but that two men had faced the brunt of it, having tried to fight off the _attackers_ ," Cromwell sneered the word, "by themselves. They saved all the people here, but obviously need our help."

"They're heroes then," Lily said, smiling, and Cromwell smiled slightly, some of her old sparkle appearing in her blue eyes.

"Absolutely."

The two women made their way into the ward they were unfortunately too familiar with, and Lily's jaw dropped as her eyes zeroed in on the two men that had faced the worst of the attack. They were covered in red bleeding gashes, and had purplish bruises spattering their bodies. One had an eye that was sticking out several inches, completely swollen. The other was coated in nasty smelling yellow pus.

"Lily Evans, as I live and breathe," Gideon rasped, wincing his smarmy grin caused a cut on his face to open back up, some of the pus dripping dangerously towards his open wound.

"Aren't you a sight for sore eyes?" Fabian added, grimacing in her direction, his one good eye narrowing so he could make her out properly.

"What happened?" Lily gasped, heading forwards with Healer Cromwell, who was wearing another disapproving expression, "Are you all right?"

"Well if we were fine and dandy love, we wouldn't be here," Fabian quipped as Cromwell, with a large sigh, headed forwards and began to examine his eye.

"Blood build up, compartment syndrome," Cromwell sighed, conjuring up and putting on a pair of gloves, "Sir, we're going to just squeeze it out, it should make it right," she said, and Fabian grimaced as his good eye followed her hands towards his face, "Friends of yours?" Cromwell asked over her shoulder, and Lily grimaced as she watched Cromwell begin to squeeze the eye, trying to block out Fabian's whimpers of pain.

"Er, sort of," Lily said, and Gideon snorted.

"Way to kick us when we're down, love."

Lily sent him a smile, and walked over to begin examining the yellow pus on him, "Is this…?"

"Bobotuber, yup," Gideon wheezed, wincing, "Hurts like a bitch, dropped on us from above, the bastards."

"Bitches and bastards, oh my," Fabian sniggered, blinking his newly functioning eye. Gideon looked over and grimaced at the river of blood down his brothers' face.

"Lily, just cleanse that and use the same spell as on Damian, the pus will have burned him and that should work on most burns. If it doesn't work, well, we'll cross that road when we get to it," Cromwell grimaced, "I'd ordinarily not let you work on friends, but with the current situation I suppose we can't afford to cater to everyone's relationships," she sighed, shaking her head slightly as another victim appeared in the bed next to Fabians, "Then we can deal with his other injuries," Cromwell said curtly. Lily nodded, and inched forwards.

"Er, is she qualified? No offence Red, but you're a baby," Gideon said, and Lily rolled her eyes as Cromwell actually let out a rare chuckle from where she was working on Fabian's cuts.

"Don't think you're in a position to be picky," Lily said, and Gideon winked as she whipped out her wand. She glanced around quickly, only then realizing just how many people were in the room, "You saved all these people?" she gasped, and the two shrugged, wincing as pain shot through them, "There's about twenty people in this room."

"Twenty seven," Fabian said, and Lily rolled her eyes as Gideon snorted. As Lily opened her mouth to say something more, there was a large commotion outside the ward, followed by loud yelling, and the twins groaned.

"What? What happened?" Cromwell asked, eyeing their injuries once more for some source for their newfound complaining.

"Alice," they whined in unison.

At that moment, as if perfectly timed, the woman in question burst into the ward. It was as if out of a fairy tale. The doors flew open at once, and a mad-haired, narrow-eyed Alice Prewett glided in, dressed in her Auror robes, as if in slow motion. Lily had never seen such fury on her best friends' usually friendly face, which was tear-strewn and bright red with anger. Lily's jaw dropped when Alice stepped forwards, exposing two of her uncharacteristically timid roommates. James and Remus entered the ward warily, James wincing in anticipation as Alice approached the boys, and Remus throwing apologetic glances at anyone whose eye he met. Lily quirked a brow at James, receiving only a grimace in return as his eyes wandered the room, taking in the victims' injuries and the bustling Healers darting from patient to patient, arms overflowing with vials of potions.

"WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH YOU TWO? NEVER IN ALL MY-"

" _Silencio_!"

Lily bit her lip to hold back laughter as Alice shot a scathing look at the Junior Healer who had charmed her.

"Ma'am, could you please keep it down, you're disturbing the other patients," he said in a calm tone that Lily could only admire, given the death glare he was receiving from the seething brunette. He gestured around at the twenty-seven others in the ward, and Alice, Lily was glad to see, had the decency to look contrite.

"Sorry," she mouthed, and the Junior Healer nodded, waving his wand and lifting the charm. Alice turned her glare on Gideon and Fabian, who were shaking with repressed laughter, "You two are in _so much trouble_ for the complete pile of _shit_ you've just put me through, I mean, honestly, what would I tell your _mother_ -"

Alice continued to hiss and rage at the twins, flapping her arms about, and bringing a small smile to Cromwell's face as she continued to tend to Fabian. Lily took the moment to approach the boys, who were both warily eying the ailing people filling up the rest of the ward.

"What are you doing here? What happened?" Lily whispered.

"What do you mean what happened?" Remus whispered back, and Lily rolled her eyes, turning instead to James, who smirked.

"Alice came over looking for you, we promised we'd go with her," he said, and Lily sighed, reaching forwards and grabbing his hand.

"Thanks," she said, and he squeezed her hand, "Do you guys know what happened?"

"No, nothing yet," Remus sighed, his face paling as his eyes scanned the ward, "Is it always like this nowadays?"

"Pretty much," replied Lily, wincing at the crack of an ankle snapping back into place. James squeezed her hand once more, and she shot him a quick smile before sighing, "back to work," she sighed, and the two grimaced, James releasing her hand after another comforting squeeze. She whipped out her wand, and after subtly scuttling the still-ranting Alice to the side, removed the Bobotuber pus from Gideon.

Lily felt her stomach churn as she took in the raw, pink skin littered with boils that was exposed. Luckily the Bobutuber pus had been diluted, so Gideon was better off than he could have been. When the boy let out a pitiful groan as fresh air attacked his raw flesh, Alice stopped her hissing, eyes widening at the sight of Gideon's red skin.

"Merlin and Agrippa, what _happened_?" Alice whimpered, bringing her hands up to her face.

"I think we'd all like to know," Cromwell said calmly, as she healed the last of Fabian's cuts, "I'm done here, Lily, admit him overnight for observation and check his wounds every hour," she said, and Lily nodded, before Cromwell turned back to Fabian, "You're a very lucky young man, your brother, it seems, got the worst of it," she added, grimacing as Lily cleaned debris out of Gideon's exposed flesh.

"This time," Fabian muttered, smirking as he earned a guffaw from his twin.

"Not a competition mate," Gideon quipped back, inhaling sharply as Lily removed a particularly stubborn piece of rubble from his wound.

"Only because you're winning," Fabian retorted, and Alice sighed.

"What happened?" she asked again, taking a seat on the edge of Fabian's bed. James and Remus took a hesitant step forwards, bringing the twins' attention to them for the first time.

"Oh hello, welcome to my funeral," Gideon smirked, winking at them. Fabian snorted.

"I'm in a bed too, thanks."

"But you're a very lucky young man, apparently," Gideon snickered, hissing as the movements in his chest caused the raw skin to stretch

"Right, I need you to stop moving," Lily said, before shooting a nervous look at the three visitors, "You should wait outside," she added hesitantly, worried eyes shifting from Alice's tear-tracks to Remus' pale face.

"So it's going to hurt," Gideon rasped, and Lily sighed, nodding, "Right, you three, out," he said, nodding to Alice, James and Remus. The three opened their mouths to protest, but before they could get anything out, Lily held up her hand.

"Out, please," she said. When they didn't move, she looked up at James, "Please." James met her eyes for a few moments, before sighing in defeat. He grabbed Alice gently by the elbow and began escorting her out, despite her objections. Remus grimaced and reached over to pat Gideon's uninjured shoulder, before following suit, helping James maneuver Alice out of the ward.

"I love that man," Lily sighed, and Gideon chuckled. She grabbed his hand and squeezed, plastering a confident smile on her face, "Let's do this."

"Lucky they were here, Alice would've never bloody left," Fabian snorted, "Can you shift me closer so I can hold his hand?"

"Pansy," Gideon snorted, nevertheless reaching for Fabian's hand and grasping tight. Lily chuckled as Fabian rolled his eyes, holding his brothers hand with both of his own.

* * *

"Don't know why she had to kick us out-"

"It's for our own good, Alice, she needed to-"

"Fucking power trip, she thinks she's all big and cool because she's-"

"Alice, you know she was trying to protect you-"

"Well maybe I don't _want_ her to protect me," Alice hissed, and Remus' mouth shut with an audible clap. James sighed, placing his chin in his hands as he continued to watch the exchange in front of him. They were sitting in the waiting area outside the ward, waiting for Lily to come out and let them know they could see the boys. Alice had spent the last twenty minutes seething, ranting and yelling at Remus about Lily kicking her out, while Remus had spent that time comforting Alice, not realizing that she was obviously just worried about her brothers, rather than annoyed at Lily.

"They'll be fine, Alice," James sighed, and Alice shot him a pained look, "Lily and the other Healers have got this."

"I know," she choked, after a few seconds of silence, finally shrinking down into the chair next to him, Remus on her other side.

"Where's Sirius?" Remus asked after a few moments, looking around, and James smirked.

"Someone ran into a certain witch he hasn't spoken to in two weeks on his way to the ward," James sniggered, and Remus guffawed.

"How did I miss this?"

"I think you were with Alice," James shrugged, and Remus grimaced.

"Would have loved to have seen his face, bet he almost wet himself," Remus sniggered, and James smirked.

"I just love Padfoots panicked expression," James chuckled, and Remus sniggered once more.

"Guess he wasn't prepared with his moves."

"He can't be rushed, remember?" James snickered, and Remus grinned, "Let's let the poor sod be, it's Hestia."

"Please don't mention that woman in my presence," Alice snorted, and Remus smirked.

"Holding a grudge, Alice?"

"Did she try to seduce _your_ fiancé?" Alice retorted, and James smirked as Remus sniggered.

"What, you mean all those years ago? Before you were together?" James asked, and Alice rolled her eyes, elbowing him in the side.

"From what I remember, Frank didn't really mind all that-"

"One more word and Lily will have to heal you next," Alice huffed, narrowing her eyes at Remus' grinning face, and the two boys sniggered. Alice shook her head amusedly, before sighing, "At least that got my mind off those two," she said, nodding towards the ward, "bitch has her uses," she added, and the two boys burst out laughing, Alice giggling alongside them.

* * *

"Sorry," Sirius called over his shoulder to the man he'd walked into, "where are we going?" he squawked to the woman in front of him, as she proceeded to drag him around yet another corner. He twisted to avoid yet another collision, and huffed a lock of hair out of his eyes, "Really Hest, this is ridiculous, there's no need to take me prisoner-"

Hestia let out a laugh, before turning to shoot him an amused look over her shoulder, "Isn't there?"

"Well, there are more ceremonious ways of doing so," Sirius scoffed, attempting to ignore his quickly reddening face, "I don't need to look so much like a hostage."

"If you were a hostage I would have simply bound you and dragged you," she quipped back, checking an empty room before shoving him in. Sirius staggered slightly, gathering his balance before turning around to shoot the girl a very offended look, only to find her locking the door.

"What are you doing?" Sirius asked, eyes settling on the wand she had pulled out, "Not that the whole bound thing isn't attractive and something I would absolutely try with you, but this is hardly the place," he added with a wink, and Hestia snorted.

"I'm not going to jump you, I'm not an animal," she scoffed, ignoring the wolfish smirk the boy directed at her. Sirius admired the way her skin flushed.

"Well, actually-"

"This is not the time," she hissed, stomping her foot as she glared at him. Sirius grinned, the infuriating bugger, "stop grinning, honestly, it's like you're enjoying this."

"Who's to say I'm not?" he countered, lowering into a chair, crossing his arms and looking up at her handsomely, "I quite enjoy seeing you so flustered."

"Fuck off Sirius, I'm not here to flirt with you, I'm here on business," she said, and Sirius quirked a brow, amused.

"I'm business?"

"Not you, you arrogant pig, I'm here for a story, not that it's any of your business," she huffed, crossing her arms and fixing him with a pointed glare, "what are you doing here?"

"Er, I was walking when you accosted me," he said, and Hestia rolled her eyes.

"I didn't _accost_ -"

"Well no recently," Sirius conceded, and Hestia glared at his smirking face.

"Why haven't you owled me?"

"Why haven't you owled me?" Sirius retorted, lips quirking up at the corners. Hestia glared.

"You're pissing me off."

"You're providing quality entertainment."

"Sirius!" Hestia whined, and the boy chuckled, "I showed up in your bloody bedroom!"

"Which I very much enjoyed, you're welcome to do it again," he sniggered, and she huffed, blowing a strand of hair out of her face.

"Fine, I see you're not in the mood to have an adult discussion, it was very nice knowing you," she sniffed. She turned on her heel only to be stopped as two very masculine arms placed themselves on either side of her head. She whipped around to glare up at Sirius as he towered over her, looking down at her with a twinkle in his stormy eyes.

"You're very bossy," he said. Hestia flushed.

"Can you just let me go please?"

"Nope," Sirius grinned.

"Then why didn't you owl me?" she said quietly, looking up into his face earnestly, her big brown eyes melting into his and unleashing the depth of her hurt. Sirius sighed, before dropping his cocky façade.

"I should have owled you, I'm sorry," he said, but Hestia's hurt look didn't fade, and he swallowed his pride before continuing, "I was scared, all right?"

Hestia blinked at him once…twice…three times…before the corners of her lips turned up, pulling higher and higher until she was positively beaming at Sirius, who was feeling very hot around the collar as she continued to look at him like that.

"You were _scared_?" she squealed, and Sirius pushed himself off the wall, crossing his arms moodily and making to take a step away from her, muttering embarrassedly about stupid birds and traitorous mouths that wouldn't stop talking, but found himself unable to as Hestia wrapped her arms around his neck, "You like me or something, Black?"

"Well there's no need to make a sodding big deal about it," Sirius grumbled, looking anywhere but at the practically giddy girl dangling off his neck, "fucking insane the lot of you, I don't know why you have to get all batty just because-"

Sirius found himself unable to continue speaking, as Hestia leaned up and his lips were suddenly otherwise distracted.

* * *

An hour later, Lily found herself settling Gideon and Fabian into a private twin ward, one the Auror department had organized for them given their heroic acts.

"This is nice," Fabian said, looking around the small room as Lily levitated Gideon onto the other bed, "Not sure why I need a bloody bed though."

"It's standard procedure," Lily chuckled, directing him towards his own cot as Gideon groaned, readjusting himself into a seated position, "Get in your bed please, you need rest."

"I'm just covered in some fucking scrapes, a few swollen bits, that's all," Fabian grumbled, but allowed Lily to shuck him nonetheless, "You Healer sorts are overdramatic as fuck."

"So are you Auror sorts," Lily retorted, and the twins snickered.

"So we just have to stay until tomorrow?" Gideon asked, his voice raspy from the excessive screaming he had done as Lily healed his burns. Thankfully, the skin had pretty much healed over, the burns hadn't done quite as much damage as they had originally anticipated.

"Tomorrow _night_ ," Lily corrected, and Gideon rolled his eyes, "Your bodies have just been under a tremendous amount of pressure, mentally and physically," she added as Fabian opened his mouth to argue, "You need rest, you need time to recuperate." When the boys continued to shoot her skeptical looks, Lily huffed, "For fucks sake can you just stay here till tomorrow night, please?"

"Since you've asked so lovingly," Fabian sniggered, throwing himself into his bed and pulling the covers up to his armpits. Lily rolled her eyes as Gideon joined in the snickering.

"I should have just let you two die."

"Lily," Healer Cromwell chastised as she entered the ward, and Lily flushed as the twins' sniggers renewed, "I just wanted to ensure your arrangements were up to scratch?" she said to the twins, who grinned and nodded.

"Spiffing thanks," Gideon said, and Healer Cromwell's lips twitched.

"Truly astounding, I don't think there's ever been a room of such magnificence-"

"That's quite enough," Cromwell tutted, and turned to Lily with a chastising look, "Please try not to wish ill on the patients Lily, no matter how challenging," she said, and Lily grinned sheepishly, "Now, they'll need to be monitored for the rest of the day, and overnight, would you be-"

"No problem, I'll stay," Lily said, and the twins groaned.

"She'll kill us," Fabian whined, and Cromwell chuckled, eyes twinkling at the boy, "don't go!"

"That's enough," she said gently, as Fabian started to cough, "Now Lily, Miss Bancroft was trying to find you, something about your legs still needing to be healed?"

"What happened?" Gideon asked sharply, all jest evaporating as his eyes zeroed in on Lily.

"It's nothing, really-"

"Lily," Fabian said sternly. Lily opened her mouth to argue, but was cut off as Cromwell raised her hand.

"It is not important, what matters is that Lily gets healed up," she said with a stern look at Lily, who bowed her head shamefacedly, "I don't think you should be working for the rest of the day given your injuries, I will assign someone else to monitor these patients while you go home and rest up," she said. When Lily opened her mouth to protest, Cromwell silenced her with a firm look, "That's my final word Miss Evans, you're off duty as of now, I'll see you in the morning," she added, and Lily sighed in defeat.

"You tell her mum," Gideon said, and Cromwell shook her head fondly.

"I'll send Miss Bancroft to collect you, shall I?" she asked, and Lily shook her head vigorously.

"No, no it's all right, I'll go down to the emergency ward, she's probably still there," she said. Cromwell nodded her head, and gestured for Lily to leave the ward before her. Lily shot the twins a farewell grimace, earning a sarcastic thumbs-up from Fabian in return, before allowing Cromwell to steer her to the emergency ward.

At the entrance, Lily groaned as James, Remus and Alice, all of whom were still stationed outside the doors, looked up.

"How are they? Where are they? What are you doing? Where are you going? Why aren't you with them?" Alice fired, her voice rising in octaves with every question.

"Misters Prewett are up in Private Ward 4 on the third floor, where they will remain until nine in the evening tomorrow night," Cromwell cut in, and Alice nodded obediently, her attitude shifting from yelling at a friend to listening attentively to a superior, "You may visit them, but please refrain from overexciting them, they need their rest," she added, and Alice nodded. She shot Lily an apologetic smile, a mark that there was no bad blood between them, before making towards the stairs.

"You coming?" James asked, holding a hand out to Lily, as he and Remus stood up to follow suit.

"Miss Evans needs to be attended to first, following which you're free to take her home," Cromwell said sternly, and Lily grimaced as James frowned worriedly, and Remus' eyes scanned her for injuries.

"What do you mean?" James asked, the buried panic evident in his voice, "What's the matter?"

"Miss Evans sustained some injuries following an incident earlier today," Cromwell said, and Lily groaned as Alice, who had been within hearing range, turned and stormed back over to them.

"What the bleeding hell happened to you?" Alice scolded, and Lily sighed, "And you worked on those two for the past hour without being healed? Are you fucking insane?"

"If you'd like to continue berating Miss Evans you can accompany her into the ward, where Miss Bancroft will heal her," Cromwell said, and Lily shot her a traitorous look. Cromwell simply smiled and guided Lily into the ward, Alice, James and Remus on their heels. Alma was waiting by one of the cots, a knowing smirk on her face as her eyes scanned the small group of people heading towards her, "Miss Bancroft, your patient," Cromwell said, before turning and heading back out of the ward.

"Well, lie down," Alma said, and Lily shot her a dirty look, knowing that her friend was enjoying herself.

"What happened?" James asked again.

"Some weirdo brought in a bunch of enchanted chairs, which were intent on seating us all. Lily cut up her legs pretty badly when a chair wouldn't let her get off," Alma said, before turning back to Lily, "drop your trousers."

"Er, we can go," Remus said, flushing madly, eyes flickering to James, who simply looked amused.

"Rogue chairs attacked you?" he asked, voice shaking with repressed laughter, and Lily shot him an annoyed look.

"It's not _funny_ James."

"Well, Alice seems to think so," James said, smirking, and nodding to where Alice was doubled over, shaking with laughter. Lily's jaw dropped.

" _Alice_!"

"Yes, yes, it's all very offensive, can you please lie down for Merlin's sake," Alma said as she pushed Lily onto the bed, "don't make me remove your trousers for you, I don't like you enough for that," Alma said, and Lily shot her a sardonic look as James sniggered.

"I can help."

"Shut up James," Lily huffed, and James grinned at her. Remus looked away awkwardly as Lily shimmied her trousers down her legs, and Alma threw a sheet over her bum to cover up her knickers.

"Merlin Lily," James breathed, as he full extent of her large gashes became visible. Remus took in a sharp breath as he turned back, and Alice groaned.

"Oh Lily," Alice cried, reaching out to hold her friends hand, "they look awful, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, they don't even hurt," Lily's muffled voice came from where she'd buried her face in the mattress.

"Masochist," Alma snorted, and Lily lifted her head to throw Alma an annoyed look. The brunette simply grinned back at her.

"Do you even know how to heal these?" Lily contended, smirking when Alma flushed.

"Er, yeah, I had some help."

"Well this looks like a story," Alice said, all worry forgotten at the hint of gossip, eyes lighting up as she looked at Alma's red face.

"Er, I don't know you," Alma said awkwardly, ducking her head and focusing on Lily's injuries so as to avoid eye contact. Alice rolled her eyes.

"Alice Prewett, nice to meet you," she said, waving off the introduction, "Now tell me what the story is."

"Alice," Lily chastised, "You can't just-"

"Shut up," Alice said, clamping her hand over Lily's mouth. This seemed to earn Alma's trust, and she grinned at Alice as James and Remus sniggered.

"Alma Bancroft," she said, and Alice beamed.

"This is the start of a beautiful friendship," Alice said happily, patting Lily on the head, "the things I could tell you about Lily."

"In exchange for gossip," Lily huffed, and Alice shrugged. Alma laughed.

"Sounds like a worthy trade," she said, and Lily groaned, burying her face in the mattress as Alma, Alice, James and Remus laughed.

"I'd like to know these things about Lily too," James piped in, and Alice smirked at him as Lily groaned loudly.

"Can you just heal my legs please? Surely Owen taught you how to do that?"

"Who's Owen?" Alice squealed excitedly, and Alma flushed darkly, looking around.

"We can't be so loud Alice," Lily giggled, as Alma continued to look panicked, scanning the room for Owen, "it's a forbidden love."

"It's not _love_ , Lily, honestly," Alma huffed, flustered, as she whipped out her wand and pointed it at Lily's legs.

"Sounds a bit like denial to me," Alice sung. Alma glared at her.

"You don't know me, you don't know my denial," she huffed, and Lily giggled as Alice blinked, before smirking.

"I like you," Alice said, and Alma grumbled irritably, starting to slowly heal the cuts on Lily's thighs. Lily hissed as the skin started to stretch to seal the wounds, and James reached out to grab her hands in his. He crouched down so his face was level with hers, and smiled gently. Lily sighed and squeezed his hands back, allowing him to kiss her atop the head.

"You two make me sick," Remus grumbled, and Alma shot him a look of agreement. Remus opened his mouth, but before he could get a word out, he was interrupted by the arrival of another person.

" _There_ you lot are, fucking hell I've been looking everywhere-"

"Couldn't have been looking that far when you found us in the ward we were going to," Remus snorted, as Sirius sauntered over to them, hands in pockets, disheveled hair falling attractively to his shoulders, a giddy grin on his face. His dark eyes scanned the room quickly, before zeroing in on the gashes Alma was healing. He stopped dead in his tracks.

"What happened?" he said seriously, dark eyes jumping from James holding Lily's hands, to Alma's wand, "Lily? Are you all right? Is she all right?" he asked, hurrying forwards. He knocked James aside, causing the boy to fall onto the floor, before kneeling down and taking Lily's hands, "Lily?"

"I'm fine, Sirius," Lily chuckled, lifting her head to grin at him as she squeezed his hands.

"Are you sure? What happened?" he asked urgently, eyes jumping to Alma, who was concentrating hard on her work, a small frown on her face. He looked at James, to see a very amused Remus helping James to his feet, "Is she okay?"

"She's fine," Remus snickered, clapping James on the shoulder as the boy straightened his glasses, "You might not be in a minute though."

"Fuck off Moony this is serious," Sirius said, turning back to Lily, "What can I do? Can I help?"

"Calm down," Lily giggled, withdrawing one of her hands and patting Sirius gently on the cheek, "I'm fine, Alma's fixing me up, it doesn't hurt."

Sirius shot Alma a look, and the girl rolled her eyes, "She actually is absolutely fine, the second these are closed up I would feel no unease letting her do whatever the hell she wanted," she said, and Lily snorted as Sirius rolled his eyes, squeezing her hands again.

"Want us to leave you two alone?" James asked drily, crossing his arms and shooting Sirius an annoyed look. Sirius turned and smirked up at him.

"Not my fault you go down like a bloody leaf."

"I'll show you a leaf-"

"Stop it!" Alice hissed, stepping between them as James made to lunge at Sirius, eyes twinkling with mischief, and Sirius stood up, smirking, "This is a hospital."

"Is it? Merlin, thanks so much Alice, I wouldn't have known," Sirius gasped, looking around at the ward dramatically. Remus rolled his eyes and, walking forwards, grabbed Sirius' sleeve, and began to drag him from the ward, "Oi! Moony!"

"You're causing too much hassle, we're leaving," Remus said. James laughed as Sirius' whines continued to sound until Remus had dragged him out of the ward.

"I should head up as well," Alice said, stroking Lily's head gently as her friend smiled up at her, "Go see my stupid brothers."

"They're fine," Lily said, "Just as annoying as ever."

"And how are their injuries?" Alice asked, eyes filling up with tears. James smiled slightly and wrapped his arm around Alice's shoulders supportively as she began to sniffle.

"They're all healed up. They just need rest, they'll be fine to leave tomorrow night," Lily said, and Alice let out a sigh of relief, leaning momentarily on James' shoulder as she reigned in her tears.

"Speaking of healed up," Alma said, taking a step back and admiring her handiwork. Lily let out an excited squeal and twisted so she could see the backs of her legs.

"Alma you're an absolute star!" Lily said happily, and Alma rolled her eyes as James chuckled. Alice beamed and ruffled Lily's hair.

"Try not to need me for the next few hours," Alma said nonchalantly, and Lily quirked a brow as she watched her friend's face turn pink.

"Why?"

"It's none of your business Lily," Alma huffed as she actively avoided meeting the redheads eye, "Honestly, you don't need to know what I'm doing all the time-"

"Merlin's _pants_!" Lily squeaked excitedly, pushing herself up into a seated position. James rolled his eyes and walked over to her legs to pull her trousers up so she wouldn't indecently reveal herself in her excitement. Lily gave him a quick kiss of thanks before turning back to Alma, a large grin on her face, "You took my advice!"

"It was rotten bloody advice, dripping in bloody maggots and whatever else is on rotten things-"

"Maggots?" Alice said confusedly, shooting a bewildered look at James, who simply shrugged, helping Lily off the bed.

"If it was so rotten why did you take it?" Lily gloated, stepping towards Alma, who huffed and crossed her arms, meeting Lily's eye with a hostile glare.

" _You_ are going to cause the downfall of us all you know, you're letting him _win_ -"

"Oh Alma this is so exciting!" Lily said happily, bouncing up and down, "What are you going to wear? Where are you going?"

"Do you have any idea what's going on?" James asked Alice, who snorted in amusement.

"That's, it's, just leave me alone Lily!" Alma squawked, and Lily grinned.

"You can never go wrong with a black dress."

"Dresses _come off_ ," Alma hissed, and James' eyebrows shot up as Alice sniggered. Lily winked, and Alma narrowed her eyes at her, "You're _enjoying_ my miserty, you little-"

"Let's head up to see Gid and Fab," Alice said, giggling, as she grabbed Lily's hand and began to drag her away from the agitated brunette, "Have fun on your date Alma," she called, and Alma flushed darkly as the giggling girls and the very confused James made their way out of the ward.

"Say hello to Owen for me!" Lily called back, and Alma sighed, lips quirking up into an excited grin as she turned away from them.

* * *

"Sirius, really, I can walk," Lily said, amused, as Sirius refused to remove his arm from around her waist, and continued to help her up the stairs. James chuckled from where he was holding Lily's hand on her other side.

"It's his sensitive side, we should embrace it," James said seriously, and Sirius shot him an annoyed look as Lily giggled.

"She was just healed, you insensitive prat," Sirius scoffed, directing Lily's left arm around his shoulders for better leverage, "Surely you should be helping her-"

"If she needed help or was in any pain I would," James retorted, sounding offended at Sirius' implication. His eyes shot to Lily's face, wrinkled with worry, "Do you-"

"No James, I'm completely fine," she said gently, leaning up to press a kiss to his cheek, "I'd be better if you'd tell Sirius I'm perfectly capable of going to change out of my Healer robes by myself," she added, and Sirius snorted.

"A likely story, you'll go help some other ailing patient and disregard your own health completely," he said, and Lily shot James a pleading look.

"He's not wrong," James chuckled, and Lily narrowed her eyes at him.

"Can you at least tell him this is unnecessary?" Lily whined as Sirius physically lifted her up the last stair, and James chuckled.

"Think you're fighting a lost battle there, love," he reasoned, and Sirius nodded in agreement as Lily pouted.

"Alma said I was completely fine," she protested, and Sirius snorted.

"More of a reason to help you out," he grumbled, and Lily rolled her eyes as James smirked.

"I don't know what your problem is with her-"

"She's _rude_."

" _You're_ rude," Lily countered, and Sirius barked a laugh as Lily huffed irritably.

"All this drama for one flight of stairs," Remus sniggered from behind them, and Lily twisted to glare at him as Alice giggled. They finally made it to the doorway leading into the Healers chambers, and Lily shot Sirius an expectant look.

"You can let me go now."

"Lily, really, I think someone should help-"

"I'll do it," James sniggered as Lily's expression transformed into one of pure irritation. Lily turned to shoot him an equally irritated look when he put his arm around her waist, simultaneously shoving Sirius away from her, and pulled her up against him.

"I don't think this is a good idea," Remus piped in, smirking as Sirius complained loudly about thankless heroics, "If he goes in there we may not see them for a while," he said, and Sirius preened at James as the boy in question rolled his eyes. Lily simply looked digusted.

"I _work here_ ," she hissed, and James grinned down at her as she glared at Remus. The werewolf simply shrugged, and turned to Alice, "Alice you be careful, I'll pick someone else to be my Maid of Honour," she added dangerously, and Alice rolled her eyes, clearly unthreatened.

"I'm terrified, truly," Alice drawled, and Lily's lips twitched with amusement, "James won't do that anyway, he won't want to overexert her after all of her injuries," she said. James pouted as the other two boys snickered.

"It's for her _health_ ," Sirius teased, and James scoffed.

"As far as I'm concerned, your health can only be benefitted by an orga-"

"And down the stairs we go," Lily said loudly, dragging her boyfriend towards the Healers chambers, effectively cutting off the rest of his assuredly inappropriate sentence as Sirius, Remus and Alice roared with laughter, "Honestly James, I've never known anyone else to be so inappropriate all the time."

"It's my one track mind, love, I can't help it," James quipped, and Lily rolled her eyes as he grinned cheekily, looking very pleased with himself.

"You can let me go now, I can walk perfectly fine," she said, attempting to pull herself away from James, who merely held on tighter, a look of innocent disapproval on his face.

"Sirius is right, you need to be resting, not overexerting-"

"I swear to _Merlin_ James if you don't let me go-"

"There's no need to get Merlin involved Lily, I'm sure he has better things to do-"

"James," Lily deadpanned, earning a wink from her boyfriend.

"That's my name."

"Can you stop being a prat?" Lily laughed, attempting to tug herself away from James as he hobbled them down the stairs. She nodded him towards where her locker was, "I wouldn't tell you I could walk if I couldn't-"

"Don't lie Lily, that's exactly what you'd do," James scoffed, depositing her on the bench beside her locker, "Or did you not forget to tell me you were injured today?" he asked, crossing his arms as he looked down at her, eyebrow quirked.

"I didn't _forget_ ," Lily whined as he blocked her access to her clothes, "I just, I don't know, I was distracted by Gid and Fab!"

"At the expense of your own well-being," James said, "excuse me if I don't trust that you're telling the truth," he added sternly. Lily pouted up at him, "Don't try and get cute with me, Evans, I'm very cross with you," he said, lips twitching as she continued to pout.

"You don't look very cross," she smirked, beaming up at him, and James rolled his eyes, turning around and opening up the locker for her.

"You're impossible," he said bluntly, and Lily giggled, wrapping her arms around his waist and cuddling her face into his lower back, "You know, I'd prefer this position if I turned around-"

"You are _disgusting_ ," Lily giggled, pushing the boy away as he sniggered happily, "Insatiable. Completely perverse."

"But you knew all this before you agreed to marry me, so I figure it's fair," he preened, leaning down to kiss her on the forehead before putting his hands on her hips and bringing her to her feet, "Okay, come on, arms up."

"Really James," Lily scoffed, pining him with an exasperated look as she crossed her arms. The boy had the gall to roll his eyes.

"I wasn't trying to seduce you, I'm trying to _help_ , you know, because of the injuries you recently sustained, the ones you forgot to tell me about?"

"I'm perfectly capable of-"

"Well, humour me then," he snorted, reaching down and pulling the top of her Healer robes over her head. Lily grinned at him as he folded them and placed them on the bench beside her, "What?"

"You're a sweet bloke, James Potter," she giggled, "a really sweet bloke." James rolled his eyes once more, reaching into her locker and pulling out her Muggle clothes, pulling the top over her head as she continued to giggle.

"Shut it," he grumbled, pulling down her trousers, and Lily quirked a brow at him.

"I think you're enjoying yourself too much, bossing me around," she huffed, crossing her arms, and he grinned, leaning down to press his lips to hers, "Stop taking advantage," she squealed, as he put his hands on the backs of her exposed thighs, "I'm half naked and recently healed."

"I thought you were perfectly fine? No issues of over exertion if you're perfectly-"

"Oh for Merlin's sake, _James_."

* * *

When Lily and James arrived in the Prewett's ward about ten minutes later, it was to find Sirius and Remus leaning against the furthest wall, focused on a terrifying man who was screaming at Gideon, Fabian and Alice.

"Disappearing in the middle of your shift to search for these two, unacceptable!" he yelled, and Alice bowed her head in shame, as he turned back to the other two, "No back up! Against a bloody _herd_ of attackers! You'd think you had Doxy eggs for brains, the both of you!"

"Oh come on Moody, surely we've paid for it," Gideon grumbled, gesturing to his position in the hospital bed. The man simply glared at him.

His sandy hair fell wisp-like down to his shoulders, sticking out at odd angles at the back, as if unable to fall straight down to the ground. His face was jagged and marred with scars, as if he had fought a thousand battles in his lifetime already. Looking down, it was clear he had a fake leg, made of wood.

"Wonder when he loses the eye, he had a magical one in the books, no?" Lily heard Sirius whisper to James, who shrugged.

"Suspended! All of you!"

The three Prewett's began to moan and protest, but fell silent as the man tapped his cane on the floor in a threatening manner. Just then there was a knock on the door, and one of the receptionists popped their heads in, "There's a family named Weasley here to see you?"

"No suspension then. Send them up," the man named Moody growled. Lily couldn't help but notice that the corner of his mouth quirked up, as if amused at the latest arrival. The reason became clear as she turned to see Gideon and Fabian looking exceedingly pale.

"No! No, Moody, come on, we don't deserve _this,_ " Fabian near-whined, "We saved twenty seven people for piss sakes!"

"Aye, and you nearly got yourselves _and_ those twenty seven people killed in the process," the man said harshly, and Fabian bowed his head.

"But we didn't," Gideon muttered under his breath. The man pretended not to have heard him, only then taking notice of the other people in the room, his eyes falling on Sirius, Remus, James and Lily plastered up against the wall.

"Who are you?" he barked, causing Lily to jump slightly.

The three boys rattled off their names like nervous students on the first day of school. Lily noticed as Moody's gaze lingered on Remus a fraction longer than the others. Remus must have noticed it too, as his hands clenched into fists, and he raised his chin, as if in a challenge.

"And you?" he barked at Lily, who had been distracted by Remus, and she cleared her throat nervously before answering, "Heard of you lot, I have," he said, eyes darting between them. Lily pretended not to notice the three Prewett's frown. The man said nothing else, limping towards the entrance of the ward, "See you in a few weeks Potter, Black," he said, and the two nodded attentively, "Expecting good things," he added with a pointed look, and the two exchanged an apprehensive glance. Lily noticed Remus' head droop sadly, "Prewett!" he called, and the three stood at attention. He examined them for a minute, an expression of distaste plastered on his marred face, "I'll be back in a moment, give you some time to bond with your, er, visitors," he said with a nasty smile, before clunking out of the ward.

"So much for suspension," Fabian snorted, "Empty threat if I ever heard one," he sniggered and Alice rolled her eyes as Gideon smirked at him.

"It's because he likes us," Gideon sniggered, grinning up at Alice, "Lucky you're our little sister, you are. He'd have actually punished you otherwise."

"Oh shut up you buffoons," Alice hissed, throwing a dirty look from one to the other, "Besides, he's not wrong you know, about your idiocy, who the hell goes into a crisis situation without calling for backup?"

"We heard the speech from Mad-Eye Alice, don't really need it from you," Gideon groaned, and Fabian snorted.

"Slightly less effective, if you know what I mean," he said, and Alice rolled her eyes, turning to look at Lily.

"You see what I have to deal with?" she sighed, and Lily quirked a brow, nodding towards James, Remus and Sirius, who barked out noises of protest as Alice smirked. She turned back to the twins, a rather devious expression on her face. They instantly looked wary, "No matter, I'm off the hook, I owled the real threat with _all_ the details," she shrugged.

Gideon and Fabian looked horrified, "You did not," Gideon breathed, and Fabian groaned, burying his head in his knees.

"We're dead, actually dead," he said, and Alice smiled, satisfied, as she turned towards the door.

"How else would she have known to come here?" she said, twiddling her fingers goodbye at the twins, who still looked ill at the thought of this 'real threat'. She smiled at the three Marauders, and leaned in to give Lily quick hug, "I'd better get going," she sighed, looking at her watch, "Reckon I should at least get some work done today," she added, with a pointed glare at the twins.

As Alice left, Sirius quirked a brow at the twins, "Who's the real threat? Your mum?"

"No," said a harsh voice from the doorway. They turned their heads quickly to find themselves facing none other than Molly Weasley. Gideon and Fabian, who were usually so brave and carefree, shrunk under her icy glare as she made her way into the room.

She was a tiny little thing, thought James. He had somehow imagined her much larger. But the woman was no taller than 5"3, stout, with loud red hair and still wearing an apron. She had dark circles under her eyes, as if she had not slept in weeks. The answer to that became quite clear as Arthur Weasley, holding in his arms two small infants, followed her into the room. Behind them came three more red headed children, and Lily grinned as the youngest of the three glared irritably at the infants in his fathers' arms through his horn-rimmed glasses. The other two ran excitedly towards their uncles, but were stopped by their father as Molly Weasley placed her hands on her hips, heaved in a large breath, and began to scream.

The second she started to yell at Gideon and Fabian, who bore expressions appropriate to those of funeral goers, the three children retreated, the youngest hiding behind his father's legs as the older two inched their way towards James and Sirius, the closest adults, shamelessly hiding themselves behind them. James grinned down at the one behind him, reaching down and ruffling his hair. Sirius shot Lily an alarmed look as the other grabbed the back of his jeans, and Lily grinned.

"Bill, Charlie," Arthur hissed, snapping his fingers for the children to leave Sirius and James alone as Sirius let out a yelp, "Come back here. Percy, it's okay, don't worry, Mummy isn't angry with you," he said gently to the youngest, who had started to cry. The twins in his arms didn't look bothered; rather, they were watching the scene with interest, kicking each other repeatedly as Molly's yells got louder.

"Maybe we should go," Remus whispered to Lily, as Arthur organized his children onto the various chairs and sofas littering the room, Molly's shrill yells having caused them to cling to their father. Lily's gaze, however, was transfixed on the children, a smile on her face as she recounted the years of Harry's life they had read, and the interactions he had had with each child. The twins in particular had her grinning, as she watched one of them reach over and pull his father's spectacles off, having gotten bored of watching his mother scream at his uncles. The other reached across and attempted to steal the spectacles, causing the first to yell out, and Arthur to finally take notice of the fact that he had been blinded. The man irritably settled the twins into an armchair before stealing his spectacles back from the first twin, who started to cry in response, and slamming them onto his face.

James looked at Lily and rolled his eyes, smirking. He grabbed her hand and began to lead her out of the ward, knowing she was too distracted to be trusted to coordinate herself. Remus followed suit, a grin on his face as he watched Arthur massage the bridge of his nose as the second twin began to cry as well, triggering Percy's renewed tears.

Sirius ushered them towards the door, and, not wanting to draw attention to himself, to avoid Molly directing her attention to him, tip toed over to Arthur, "We'll leave you to it," he whispered, wincing as Molly angrily brought her hands down, whacking the twins on the sides of their heads simultaneously, "could you let them know we'll come back tomorrow."

"Go, save yourselves," Arthur muttered back, before making a grab for one of the twins, who had decided to roll off the armchair. Sirius smirked, clapped Arthur on the shoulder, and followed his friends out of the ward.

"AND WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING?"

The four of them froze and turned slowly, to see Molly Weasley's thunderous expression now directed at them. Sirius prodded Lily in the back, causing her to stumble forwards. Molly's gaze narrowed in on her.

"Er, we thought we'd give you some privacy," Lily said nervously, but smiling kindly nonetheless as her eyes flickered once more to the twins, whom Arthur was now handing to Gideon and Fabian each.

"You're the Healer who helped my brothers?" Molly asked, the harshness in her voice dissipating, and Lily hesitated slightly before nodding. Next thing she knew, Molly had burst into tears and had her arms around Lily, "Thank you," she choked, and Lily smiled, gently hugging the woman back.

"Well that's a nice change," Fabian sighed, grinning at the twin on his lap. Arthur had collapsed onto the recently vacated armchair.

"Arthur looks like he's going to die," Gideon sniggered, and Arthur shot him an annoyed look.

"You singlehandedly bring five children and a raging Molly to the hospital," he grumbled, and the twins laughed as Molly finally disentangled herself from Lily, bringing the end of her apron up to dab at her eyes.

"I'm so sorry, have we met?" she said politely to James, Sirius and Remus, who grinned and introduced themselves, "and you are?" she asked Lily.

"Lily Evans," she said kindly, and Molly gave her a watery smile.

"Well it's lovely to meet you dear, please, sit down," she said to the four of them, gesturing to the empty seats.

"Molly, this is our room, surely we should be being hospitable," Gideon snorted.

"Perhaps you should," she snapped at her brother, who recoiled under her suddenly sharp gaze. James smirked, wrapping his arm around Lily's shoulders.

"We've probably got to head out in a minute anyway," Remus said kindly, obviously still of the opinion that the twins should be left with their family. They turned again, only to find their exit blocked by Moody, who had returned, and was watching the children now running around the room with distaste.

"Could hear you all the way down the corridor," he grumbled at Molly, who flushed, "good on you," he added with a crooked smirk, and Molly nodded politely, still pink, before attempting to usher her children back to the sofa.

"See? No need for suspension when you've got a sister like ours," Gideon said, earning glares from both Moody and Molly.

"Careful Prewett or I'll reinstate the damn thing," Moody growled, effectively shutting Gideon up. Sirius started to snigger at the twins' contrite expressions, but managed to cover it up with a skilfully timed cough, earning an eye roll and shoulder shove from Remus.

"Now, I need a report on what happened," Moody said, shooting a glare at one of the children, Bill, as he wandered too close to him. The boy retreated, seating himself back down on the sofa, eyes watching Moody carefully as if he was going to attack.

"Yeah, we'd like to know before we leave," Sirius said, causing every head to turn towards him. Remus' jaw dropped, and he stomped on Sirius' foot, "what?" Sirius hissed, and Remus rolled his eyes, muttering about tactlessness and foolish imbeciles.

"Looks like we're all on the same boat," Moody said, lip twitching with amusement as he watched Lily and Remus hiss at Sirius about knowing his place. James simply looked amused, arm remaining around Lily as he fought back a laugh.

"Well we were patrolling in this one area," Gideon said, and Fabian shot him a warning look, "What? I won't give anything away," he snorted, rolling his eyes before turning back to the room. Molly had seated herself down on Fabian's bed, and had taken the twin into her arms, trying to stop him from pulling at Fabian's hair, "And suddenly, BOOM!"

"BOOM!" shouted Bill, Charlie and Percy, and Sirius barked a laugh, ruffling Charlie's hair as James, Remus and Lily chuckled. Moody simply looked irritable, and grumbled for them to get a move on and tell the story.

"Precisely, boom," Gideon said, winking at his nephews, "explosion, multiple masked attackers, tons of people at risk," he said, biting his lip as he looked down at the child who had fallen asleep in his lap, "Er, I'll not go into the gory details, can fill you in on those later with a more appropriate audience, but basically there were a bunch of them shooting spells. We couldn't do _nothing_ ," he said, with a pointed look at Molly, who simply glared back, "so we whipped out our wands and did what any decent person would do," he finished, nodding his head. James couldn't help but notice the reluctant pride on Moody's face.

"And you saved twenty seven people without any backup," Arthur said, shaking his head in amazement. The twins shrugged.

"All in a days work," Fabian said. Molly rolled her eyes and allowed the still whimpering Percy to climb into her lap, the twin in her arms having fallen asleep. Fabian took the sleeping baby from her, grinning down at it as Percy made himself comfortable on his mothers lap. Arthur shot Bill and Charlie a warning look as they began to snigger and point at Percy. They stopped immediately.

"Wasn't that difficult until the new recruits showed up. There was this one, Snape, had the mad idea to threw bloody Bobotuber pus everywhere," Gideon growled.

James grabbed Lily's shoulder just in time as she blanched, stumbling in shock at having heard that name. Sirius had the tact to pretend he had pushed her and apologized.

"Snape?" Moody barked, whipping out a piece of parchment from inside his robes and scanning it, "Don't have a Snape on here. New recruit, you reckon?" he asked, all business, as he whipped out a quill and scribbled the name down.

"You sure it was Snape?" Remus asked, eyes daring warily from James' clenched jaw to Lily's pale face.

"Yeah, that blighter from Hogwarts, must have been your year, yeah?" Fabian asked, and the four nodded mutely, "Rotten little thing, I always thought. Greasy hair," he said. James managed a weak smile, his hand still gripping Lily's shoulder. Sirius barked a laugh, and Remus grinned, both of them warily casting glances at James.

"Any idea on a first name?" Moody asked, frowning at the four of them. None of the boys moved, eyes on Lily, who took a deep breath in.

"Severus Snape," she said in a passably calm voice. Sirius noticed Molly shoot her a peculiar glance.

"Any knowledge on blood status? Family?" Moody barked at her. She grabbed James' hand behind her back, squeezing it tight before nodding her head.

"He's a half blood, his mum is a witch. Last I knew his family lived in Spinner's End, in Surrey," she said. James squeezed her hand again as Moody aggressively scribbled down the information.

"Helpful having inside knowledge, could help with blackmail," Moody said, nodding his head as he folded the parchment and shoved it inside his robes. His eyes lingered on Lily, and softened slightly, "Know him, do you?"

"I did, a long time ago," Lily said in a clipped tone. Moody nodded, before turning back and questioning the twins some more, "I'm going to head back," she murmured to James, who simply looked down at her, jaw still tight as his eyes scanned hers.

"Okay," he said after a moment, releasing her hand, "Want me to come with you?"

"No, it's fine," she said, throwing him a poor attempt at a smile before heading out of the ward. James made to follow her, eyes filled with worry, but Remus placed a hand on his shoulder, following Lily in his stead.

"Leave it," Sirius murmured, as James made to follow after Remus anyway.

"But-"

"You're worried about Snape, especially after all that shit we learned in the Seventh Book," he said, narrowing his eyes at James as the boy opened his mouth angrily, "Don't lie to me mate, I know you worry about her leaving you because he loves her," he whispered. James simply clenched his jaw, turning away from Sirius to watch Moody continue to question the twins. Sirius was undeterred, "Until you get over that, she's not going to talk to you about it," he whispered, before leaning away. James nodded slightly, crossing his arms tightly.

He knew Sirius was right, how could he expect Lily to trust him when he was so untrusting when it came to her feelings for Snape?

* * *

Remus found her in the living room, sitting in the middle of the floor, a book on Horcruxes open on her lap.

"Lily-"

"You know, I had no idea making a Horcrux was as gruesome as it is," she mused, not looking up from the book as she turned the page. Remus carefully lowered onto the floor beside her. He took a deep breath, before placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"You all right?"

"A bit grossed out," she snorted, placing her hand over a drawing of a man in considerable pain as a part of his soul flew out of him.

"Lily-"

"Remus," she sighed, looking up from the book and into the boys' scarred face, "How am I supposed to feel?" she asked, beseeching him. Remus opened his mouth, but found himself unable to make words, "It's just," she sighed again, looking down at the book, her vibrant hair falling in cascades down her shoulders, the ends littering the pages of the book, "I grew up with him, he was my best friend. You'll say I'm stupid and naïve, everyone did, but I honestly didn't see this coming."

"I know," Remus murmured, rubbing her shoulder in gentle circles as she continued to speak.

"And I mean, we read those books, we found out how he felt, and I just," she sighed again, closing her eyes and leaning her head back, "I just feel so bloody guilty."

"About what?" Remus asked after a few moments silence. There was a terrible knot of tension in his stomach as the possibilities of Lily's source of guilt rolled around in his head; was she feeling guilty because she loved Snape, because she was betraying James?

"Because I feel _sorry_ for the bastard," she groaned, dropping her head into her hands, and Remus released a sigh of relief, "Why should I feel sorry for him?"

"Lily, maybe-"

"Remus, don't," she snapped, "Honestly, the four of you always make me feel even worse every time Severus is mentioned. I mean, for Merlin's sakes, do you really think so little of me, that my feelings for James are so insignificant that I could throw him away in a moment because of Severus?"

Remus shook his head quickly as she turned to look at him, but his eyes betrayed him. He looked down into his lap as her eyes filled with tears.

"You do."

"Lily-"

"Don't lie to me," she sniffed, blinking quickly as she looked away from Remus, "All of you think I'm going to bail at any second because of him."

"You've never told us how you feel about him," Remus said after a moment, wincing as Lily turned to look at him, her eyes wide with hurt, "You don't like to talk about it."

"Because it hurts Remus," she said sadly, shaking her head, "it hurts, and every time I bring him up, Sirius cracks a joke about shampoo and James looks like he's going to punch something," she added. Remus coughed, attempting to hide the unexpected spurt of laughter he was fighting at the bizarrely accurate description of his friends. Lily wasn't fooled, and smirked at him, "See? It's true."

"So you don't feel anything for him?" he asked, hoping Lily wouldn't hear the hopeful undercurrent to his question. Lily, however, was no idiot, and shot him a sardonic look before sighing, facing the wall in front of her.

"I don't feel nothing," she said slowly, chewing on her lip, ignoring the way Remus tensed beside her, "I don't feel anything romantic, I never did, so you can stop worrying about that," she assured, patting Remus' knee soothingly, "But that doesn't mean I didn't love him. Of course I did, but like a sibling," she sighed, closing her eyes and shaking her head, "Remus, you don't understand. When I went home over the holidays, he was the only person from Hogwarts I spent time with, that I properly kept contact with. When I wanted to talk to someone, I sought out either him or Alice," she shook her head sadly, before turning to look Remus fully in the eye, "I imagine it's how you felt when you found out what Peter had done," she said.

"But Peter isn't in love with me," Remus said bluntly, and Lily smirked

"That you know of." Remus rolled his eyes, lips twitching amusedly as Lily continued to smirk at him.

"You've spent way too much time with James and Sirius," he snorted, and Lily beamed. Remus sighed, adopting a more serious expression, "But really Lily, it's different-"

"But it's not, that's what I'm trying to tell you!" she groaned, getting up onto her knees and staring down at Remus imploringly, "It's such _bollocks_ Remus, to say that," she added. When the boy continued to look skeptical, Lily huffed, getting ot her knees and staring down at him imploringly, "Say Peter _was_ in love with you, would it have changed how you felt? Wouldn't it still have hurt?" she asked shrilly. Remus heard a new sense of urgency in her voice, like she desperately needed him to understand her point, "Remus, even if someone _does_ love you, it doesn't mean you feel the same way. Severus was a part of my life from the time I was nine years old. How can I not feel upset, or hurt, or caught off guard when I hear that the boy who told me I was a witch, who was my best friend, was actively involved in one of these attacks?"

Remus continued to look at her, before sighing and nodding, "So you don't love him."

"I do," she sighed, sinking back down to the floor and wrapping her hands around her legs and dropping her chin onto her knees, "Of course I do, but not romantically. I was never interested in that with Severus. It's flattering, of course, that he felt that way. But it doesn't change how _I_ feel."

Lily closed her eyes and dropped her head so her face was no longer visible to Remus. The werewolf continued to look at her sadly, finally understanding and accepting that her love for Severus was completely different and separate to her love for James. He supposed she had a point really. If any of the Marauders betrayed them, as Peter had in the future, he'd be just as torn up, would have reacted the same way hearing that one of them had hurt Gideon.

"It's like he's not there anymore," Remus murmured, and Lily lifted her head. Her eyes met his, shining with unshed tears, and she nodded, biting her lip, "And that's why it hurts. Because it means he's completely gone."

"He's lost," she whispered in agreement. Remus reached out and grabbed her hand, and she squeezed it back, "And I feel guilty because I feel sorry for him, even though he's one of them, and he's hurting my friends."

There were a few minutes of silence, as Lily reigned in her emotions and Remus continued to hold her hand in a show of support. Finally, she let out a big breath, and released his hand.

"Let's just, talk about something else," Remus said, dragging the book she'd been looking at towards him. His eyes fell on the drawing and his face contorted with disgust, "I see what you mean."

"Grossed out," Lily giggled, nodding her head as she crawled closer so she could look down at the page with him.

"Why are you reading this?" he asked, reading the instructions on how to create a Horcrux, "Something you want to tell me?" he asked, wagging his eyebrows at her, eyes glinting with mischief, and Lily rolled her eyes, lips curved up in a smile.

"Oh no, you've caught me," she deadpanned, and Remus laughed, "I don't know why I was reading it to be honest, just thought it was interesting to know."

"By interesting I'm sure you mean fucking terrifying," he said, and Lily snorted, leaning her head on his shoulder, "Can I just say one more thing?" he asked, and Lily sat up straight, turning to look at his serious face. She nodded slowly, and he took a deep breath before saying, "Tell James everything you told me." Lily continued to look at him, not saying anything, "he needs to hear it."

Lily nodded, before looking back down at the pages in front of them. Remus smiled slightly, wrapped his arm around her shoulder, and turned the page.

"Are you okay, Remus?" Lily asked after a few minutes of reading, and he shot her a questioning look, "Moody-"

"I don't want to talk about it," he bit out, turning away from her. He felt her small hand slip into his and looked up at her once more, face burning with indignation.

"I'm sorry you're hurting," she said, and Remus sighed, running his hand through his hair agitatedly.

"It's just not fair, my application was just as good as theirs," he choked out, and Lily leaned her head on his shoulder.

"You'd make a wonderful Auror Remus," she said, squeezing his hand once more. Remus blinked quickly, before looking back down at the page, unable to speak through the lump of emotion in his throat.

* * *

When James and Sirius got back, it was to find Lily and Remus still seated on the floor, happily chattering away about the various books open around them. Peter was back as well, seated on the floor near his bed with a blank expression, clearly not paying attention to Remus and Lily's conversation. His head turned as James and Sirius appeared, and he waved hello. Lily and Remus were so engrossed they hadn't noticed the boys' arrival.

"How's your mum?" Sirius asked, dropping himself onto one of the dining room chairs. James continued to watch Lily as she giggled with Remus.

"Fine, nearly wet herself when I told her about the Prophet," Peter snickered. Sirius smirked, before kicking James' ankle.

"What?" the boy snapped, and Sirius rolled his eyes. James' sharp tone seemed to get Lily and Remus' attention, and the two looked up. Lily beamed at James, who managed a weak smile in return.

"When did you two get back?" Remus asked, frowning, and Sirius rolled his eyes amusedly.

"Been here a about a minute, you were busy," he sniggered, nodding to the books, "How are your legs, Lil-bit?"

"Fine," Lily said, smiling up at him before looking back down at the book, "Good as new."

"What happened to Lily's legs?" Peter asked, frowning.

"Hear you managed to make a move today," Lily giggled, winking up at Sirius, who flushed.

"How do you-"

"I happened to run into a very giddy Hestia Jones while I was on my way out today," she said, smirking as Sirius' face turned a darker hue, "Do you have any idea why she was so happy?"

"Er-"

"I managed to decipher something about feelings and someone being scared-"

"That's enough," Sirius barked, flushing darker as both Remus and James shot him gleeful grins.

"Did she say-"

" _Scared_?"

The two sniggered madly as Sirius shot them looks of deep loathing. Peter simply continued to look confused.

"What's going on? Moves? What happened to your legs?" he asked Lily, who laughed.

"Leave him alone," Lily giggled, as James and Remus continued to prod and tease Sirius, who was steadily curling himself into a ball to avoid their sniggers and wiggling fingers, "If you hurt him you'll have to answer to Hestia."

"Definitely official then, if you're no longer in charge," James said, shooting a cheeky smirk over his shoulder at Lily, who rolled her eyes, shaking her head fondly as she began to tidy the living room of littered books.

"I'm in charge," Sirius scoffed, causing James to let out a bark of laughter. Sirius shoved him in the side

"Oh that reminds me," James said, before launching himself at Sirius. Lily let out a squeal as the chair went toppling backwards, James and Sirius' wrestling forms barely reacting as they continued to shove at each other.

"What?" Peter asked again, frowning as an exasperated Remus attempted to pull the two boys apart.

"Oh for piss sake," Sirius whined as James sent a well directed kick at him, "You push a bloke once and all of a sudden-"

"Hardly _sudden_ is it, you wanker. You pushed me _hours_ ago-"

"Well _excuse me_ for assuming you were a grown up-"

"You're excused."

"Why you little shit-"

With that, Sirius threw his arms around James' ankles, causing the bespectacled boy to topple over, pulling Lily down with him as he grabbed onto her to keep steady. Remus rolled his eyes and stepped over them as the three burst out laughing at their predicament, giving up on trying to achieve order and making his way to the kitchen.

"Remus! Wait, what's going on?" Peter squawked, pushing himself up and following the muttering werewolf into the kitchen. His reaction only caused James, Sirius and Lily to laugh harder, Sirius still lying on the chair, hands curled around James' ankles, and James lying half on top of Lily.

"Well, I think that settles it," Lily giggled as James pushed himself off her, and pulled her to her feet.

"I'm going to get some nosh, I'm fucking starving," Sirius chuckled, shoving James once more in the shoulder before following the other two into the kitchen, where Remus' irritable voice could be heard muttering to Peter about immaturity and why the fuck did he have to choose that day to go to his mothers.

"Well, it's been an eventful day," Lily said after a few moments' awkward silence. James sighed and ruffled his hair, before looking down into her face.

"Look, Lily, I-"

Lily cut him off, placing a finger on his lips, effectively defeating his ability to speak. James just looked down at her, his wide eyes alive with nerves and worry. Lily sighed, before wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling herself higher in his arms and pressing her lips gently to his.

"I know," she said, smiling slightly, "But we've had this discussion before, and this is the last time I am going to say this." James' jaw clenched and his hands tightened on her hips, "I do not love Severus, not as anything more than a very dear friend from my past," she said, noting that James' entire frame seemed to have relaxed a hair as she said so. She pinched his neck, scolding, earning a devastatingly handsome crooked smile in return, "I told you multiple times after we finished that damn book that you didn't have to worry about him, and that he always was nothing more than a friend-"

This time James cut her off, smashing his lips to hers. Lily let out a frustrated groan, attempting to push him off her. After a few pitiful attempts, James chuckled against her mouth, and released her, looking down at her expectantly as she narrowed her eyes up at him.

"Stop it, I'm trying to tell you something," she huffed, blowing a lock of hair out of her face. James chuckled, tucking the lock behind her ear.

"Go ahead, I won't interrupt again," he promised, and Lily rolled her eyes.

"Don't make promises we both know you won't keep," she snorted, and the boy winked down at her, "James, listen," she sighed, grabbing his collar in her hands and looking into his eyes, "I know you've never stopped worrying that I was going to run away with him, ever since we read that book. But, James, I said it then and I'm saying it now, he's never held any romantic interest to me. _You're_ the one I want to be with, for some reason unbeknownst to me," she scoffed, flushing as James beamed down at her, "that's not going to change because I found out someone else is interested, and I hope it's the same vice versa," she said quickly. James chuckled, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her closer.

"He's not the only one interested," he said, and Lily rolled her eyes, attempting to shove him away as he grinned, "Or need I mention Benjy Fenwick-"

"I'm not listening to any more of this," she whined, fighting off a smile as he started whisper his murder plans, "And James, even if I did love Severus in the way you tend to worry I do, which I bloody don't," she added again, and James smirked, "I wouldn't be able to forgive him, because I know that if we do succeed at this James, he won't change in this lifetime, and he wouldn't have changed in those damn books if it had been anyone but me, he would have let an innocent baby die, and that's not something I admire in a partner." James burst out laughing at this, and pulled her close.

"Promise bloody broken, you said you wouldn't interrupt," Lily managed, but James simply chuckled, and pulled her face back to his, "I love you," she murmured against his mouth.

"You two make me want to vomit, you know that?" Remus groaned as he walked back into the living room, purposefully walking right up to them, separating them, and walking through the middle. James shot him a dirty look as Lily giggled, her face bright red. Sirius sniggered as he threw his arm around her shoulders, sticking his tongue out at James, who was still glaring at a very amused Remus.

"Poor Moony, hasn't been laid in so long," Sirius sighed, "Tragic really."

"He's so attractive too, bless his bum," James sniffed, smirking as Remus turned to glare at the two of them.

"Don't restart this shit, you twats."

"Such language," Sirius gasped, grinning down at Lily, who was exchanging an amused look with Peter.

"Explains the lack of lay," James sighed, "Come here, you need some practice letting people in," he said, opening his arms wide and heading towards Remus.

"Fuck off, don't you dare touch me," Remus huffed, putting the fallen chair between them as Lily, Sirius and Peter cackled, "James, don't you dare."

"I think he's scared of affection Prongs!" Peter called out, grinning as Remus shot him a look of pure loathing.

"Explains why he's still single," Sirius sniggered, his arm still draped around the laughing redhead, "That and the shit talk from this morning, remember Prongs?" he called, smirking as Remus glared at him

"Poor Remus, so alone, with a poo fetish no less," James sighed, before launching himself at the boy. Remus, who had been too busy looking disgusted as the others cackled about his supposed 'poo fetish', squawked and attempted to scamper, but was a shade too slow as James managed to grab the sleeve of his shirt.

"Lily!" Remus squealed, attempting to dig his heels into the floor. The redhead simply laughed at him as James, who was significantly stronger than Remus, managed to reel the boy in, wrapping his arms around Remus securely, one of his hands soothingly rubbing Remus atop the head.

"There there," James crooned, throwing Lily a wink as Remus attempted to push him off, his hands smacking every part of James he could reach.

"You're an idiot," Lily chuckled, crossing her arms as Sirius and Peter roared with laughter at Remus' struggling.

"You're next," James said, blowing her a kiss, before continuing to stroke the very agitated Remus.

"Geroff me! James you just wait till I-Fuckin-just-will you- _Prongs_!"

* * *

 **Hey all, so sorry for the delay, this has been the worst couple months for me. Not a lot of plot this chapter, but hope it was fun nonetheless! Thought it was time to deal with the fact that Lily and James were aware of Snape's sacrifice for her.**

 **Hope this was worth the wait, I'll try and be better!**


	11. The Next Step

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor do I have any claim over any rights to it. Also I'm not JK Rowling.**

* * *

"So I think wear this shirt, and then I could have you pair it with-"

"Hest," Sirius groaned, covering his face with his hands as he fell back onto his bed. The girl in question continued to bustle around in Sirius' wardrobe, throwing various articles of clothing onto the floor as she rejected them.

"And then, well, actually, I don't know, I'm not sure this colour really screams that you're ready to be an Auror and live up to expectations-"

"Hest."

"So maybe we should choose this one instead, though, hm, I'm not sure this would really bring your eyes out the way that one did so maybe-"

"Hest, I don't really _care_ -"

"But perhaps if you wear brighter _trousers_ it would work. Do you have anything in orange?"

" _Trousers_?" Sirius squawked, finally removing his arm from over his eyes and turning his to shoot her a bewildered look, "Did you just ask me if I have orange fucking _trousers_?"

"Watch your mouth Sirius, honestly, it's too early for your vulgarity," Hestia scoffed, throwing him a disapproving look before turning back to the wardrobe, stroking her chin thoughtfully, "And for the record there's nothing wrong with orange trousers."

"Yes there bloody is. Just because _you_ like them," Sirius groaned, rolling over onto his stomach so he could bury his face in his pillow. Hestia giggled, "Why are you even doing this right now when we could be-"

"Sirius, there are more important things than sex," she said in an overtly patient tone, shaking her head condescendingly.

"Like fashion, clearly," Sirius snorted.

"Exactly," she quipped, throwing him a wink and completely disregarding the sarcasm in his voice as she continued to scan the clothing, "You know Sirius, what you wear on your first day of Auror training is extremely important and determinative. It strikes your first impression and it-"

"Oh Hest not this shit again, _please_ ," Sirius whined, pushing himself off the bed and walking over to slam his wardrobe shut. Hestia shot him a nasty look.

"You're not taking this very seriously at all," she scolded, crossing her arms. Sirius narrowed his eyes at her irritably.

"Nobody _cares_ what I choose to wear-"

"Were you not just listening to what I was saying about first impressions and-"

"And besides it's not like I'm even going _today_ , my first day isn't until bloody _Monday_ -"

"There's nothing wrong with being prepared in advance, Sirius-"

"For Merlin's sakes, _Hest-_ "

"Stop being so unreasonable-"

"You're a pain in my _arse_ -"

"Well maybe if you _listened_ -"

"Oh, fabulous, it's _my_ fucking fault _again_ -"

Sirius was cut off as Hestia launched herself at him, arms wrapped firmly around his neck. Sirius didn't hesitate to respond with as much gusto, if not more, placing his hand in her hair so she wouldn't move away from him, angling her into a better position.

"All this arguing sure makes for very interesting mornings," Hestia giggled as Sirius moved his attentions down to her jaw.

* * *

"Here they go again," James groaned as he rolled over onto Lily, who giggled as he continued to groan and whine into her hair, "They're always fucking shouting and then they start going at it so bloody loudly-"

"Don't think we're allowed to complain, considering how we started off," Lily giggled, running her fingers through his thick hair as he nestled into the skin of her neck.

"Shut it, that's different," James scoffed, lifting his head frown down at her, "I need my sleep. It's six in the morning."

"If you want James, since we're up, I can help _you_ find some orange trousers to wear-"

"Watch it," he warned, and the redhead giggled, placing her hands on his cheeks and pulling him down for a kiss.

"It's okay love, they'll never be able to argue like us," she said, and James smirked.

"When did this become a competition?"

"Well, they're stealing our thunder, no?" she giggled, grinning up at him as he snorted, rolling off her onto his back, "Constant arguing was our thing."

"Not recently," James said, and Lily scoffed, turning to her side so she could cuddle up against him.

"I'll happily oblige if you're missing it."

"Tempting, it's been a while since I saw you turn that angry shade of red," James sniggered, beaming down at her and pulling her into him. Lily laughed, stretching up to kiss him on the cheek. Just then there was a loud knock on their door.

"Who is it?" Lily called as James groaned, draping his arm over his eyes.

"Who do you bloody think? Let me the fuck in."

"Someone's cheerful today," Lily giggled as James shot an amused look at the door. He reached for his wand and waved it to unlock the door, revealing a disheveled Remus and Peter, the latter still wrapped in his blanket, the former dragging a pillow as he stomped into the room. Peter shut the door behind him, watching on in amusement as Remus threw himself down on the bed across James and Lily's legs, causing them to yell.

"You fucker, get off my bloody legs," James whined, wriggling his legs as Remus pretended to be asleep. Lily giggled and withdrew her legs gently, pushing herself up into a seated position so she could ruffle Remus' hair. The boy swatted at her hand, earning a kick from James.

"What's with the slumber party?" she asked, grinning at Peter, who had simply decided to slide down the door and lean his back against it, curled up in a ball within his blanket.

"They're just so bloody loud, why the fuck do I have to live in a flat in which Sirius is shagging? The boy has no decency. I swear he's louder just to irritate the rest of us. Why the fuck is this my life?" Remus muttered angrily, peeling an eyelid open to shoot James an irritated look as the boy kicked him again.

"Your life is so unfortunate," Lily laughed, swatting at James as he grinned and kicked Remus again, "Leave him alone James, just slide your legs out."

"But he's lying across them!" he whined, rolling so he could rest his head in her lap, "And he spent all those months whining about _us_ shagging and now look who he's come crying to! Why are they even in here? It's _closer_ to Sirius, and what if _we_ wanted to shag?"

"That is true," Lily laughed, ruffling Remus hair again, causing the boy to roll further away from her. Unfortunately he rolled too far, and ended up rolling himself off the end of the bed onto the floor, landing with a satisfying 'thunk'. James roared with laughter, jolting Peter, who had fallen asleep, awake. Lily bit her lip to keep herself from joining in as Remus stood up, pillow in hand, looking murderous, glaring at the foot of the bed.

"Shut it," Remus grumbled as James continued to explode with uncontrollable mirth, throwing himself moodily onto the bed once more, this time avoiding James' legs and lying where Lily's legs used to be. Lily succumbed to giggles as Remus attempted to kick James, who only laughed harder. Peter had fallen asleep again.

There was another knock at the door, and Remus let out a low growl as Sirius stuck his head in, looking annoyed. He pushed the door too far, causing Peter, who had been leaning against it, to fall forwards. He somehow remained asleep.

"Look, could you lot keep it down in here?"

"What?" Remus asked, in an eerily calm voice. Lily bit back a smile as she felt James shake with silent laughter. She could see the gleeful glint in his eye as he watched Remus.

"Well, it's six in the morning, and you're all being bloody loud-"

"You hypocritical _shit_!" Remus roared, pushing himself onto his feet as James and Lily burst into laughter. Sirius quirked a brow as the werewolf marched towards him, pillow in hand. He swung it, slapping Sirius across the face with the pillow. _Thump_.

"Oi! Moony I don't know what the fuck your problem is but-"

"My problem? _My problem_?"

 _Thump_

He hit him with the pillow again. Sirius shot James a bewildered look, only to see the boy in question sniggering madly.

"Moony, I don't-"

 _Thump_

"Maybe you should go Sirius," Lily said in a choked voice, as Sirius continued to look bewildered by Remus' aggression. Sirius frowned and opened his mouth to retort, and Remus raised his pillow again.

"Moony what the fuck is your-"

 _Thump_

"Moony don't you fucking dare-"

 _Thump_

"That is _it_!" Sirius yelled, before squeezing himself through the door and launching himself at Remus, the two falling onto James' legs again, causing the boy to howl with pain, wrestling madly.

"Stop! Stop it!" Lily laughed, trying to push the boys off James' legs as James whined to her about abuse and his poor legs and maybe she'd have to carry him everywhere because his awful friends had paralyzed him.

"What's going on in here?" a voice asked from the doorway, and they all turned at once to see Hestia, wrapped only in a blanket, standing in the doorway with a confused expression on her face as she watched Sirius and Remus fight.

"You'll get used to it," Lily sighed, falling forwards onto James' chest and closing her eyes as Sirius and Remus renewed their fight.

* * *

"I love weekends," Sirius sighed happily, smiling dreamily at Lily as she placed a plate of waffles in front of him, before going back in the kitchen to retrieve another plate for herself.

"What need do _you_ have for a weekend? You don't bloody do anything during the week," Remus snorted, rubbing one of Lily's salves on a bruise Sirius had given him that morning.

"Well, _Remus_ , because my _girlfriend_ has a job, and I only get to spend quality time with her on the weekends."

"I think you two get enough quality time," Remus muttered. Peter, the only one who'd heard him, sniggered, but managed to pass it off as an aggressive cough.

"I thought you'd be much more upset today, given it's your last two days before you're gainfully employed," Lily said, sitting down in one of the other chairs.

"Why would that upset me?"

"Because it's your last two days of freedom." Lily grinned as Sirius' face dropped.

"It is not!"

"I'm sorry, but how much time do I really get to spend with you lot anymore?" she challenged, winking as Sirius groaned, dropping his head onto the table.

"What's the matter with him?" James snorted, walking into the living room, freshly showered, and sitting down next to Lily. He reached over and grabbed a waffle from her.

"Get your own," Lily huffed, plucking the waffle from his hand and taking a gargantuan bite. James winked, and took a bite from the other end.

"We can meet in the middle."

"No," Lily said, lip twitching as James winked again, taking another bite.

"Just give him the bloody waffle, I've had enough of this today," Remus groaned, and Sirius snorted.

"Excuse me, you did not get any today."

"Don't make me hit you again," Remus threatened, and Sirius smirked.

"When _is_ the last time you-"

"All right," Lily laughed, as Remus reached for his pillow once more and Sirius made to stand up, eyes glinting mischievously, "That's enough, I get an entire day off so rarely now, I don't want to spend it mothering you two," she said, shooting them pointed looks, and Sirius pouted.

"But Lily-"

"Back to James' original question," she said, and James grinned.

"It wasn't a question as much as a proposition, love. Go on, it's your turn," he said, nodding down at the waffle. Lily shot him a sardonic look, earning another wink in return as Remus rolled his eyes.

"Sirius was upset because it's his last weekend of freedom," Peter piped in, before Lily, who had opened her mouth to retort, could say anything. James simply continued to grin at her.

"What do you mean?" James asked, turning to frown at Peter, "Where's he going?"

"To work you idiot," Remus snorted, taking a bite out of one of his waffles, "You're losing your freedom too."

"Lost that when I started dating Lily," James said, winking at Lily, who narrowed her eyes at him.

"Why are you so insufferable today?"

"Am I?" he asked, his twinkling eyes ruining his otherwise innocent expression. Lily sighed and turned back to her waffle.

"You'd have a much more peaceful day off if you spent it elsewhere," Remus sniggered, as James, still grinning, tucked a lock of hair behind Lily's ear and leaned forwards to whisper in her ear.

"And _I_ am the disgusting one," Sirius snorted, as Lily's face bypassed red and turned purple.

"No, it's definitely him," Lily said, turning to shoot James a disapproving look as he grinned lecherously down at her. He leaned forwards and dropped a kiss on her lips.

"Oh for piss sakes, just go and shag her already," Remus complained, as James kissed her again.

"Don't mind if I do," James said, grabbing Lily's hand.

"Sit down," Lily giggled, pulling his hand so he landed back in his seat. He pouted at her.

"But Lily-"

"So did you decide on an outfit Sirius?" Remus asked innocently, smirking as he looked down at his waffles. Sirius choked on the bite he'd taken as the others laughed.

"I think orange trousers would really suit you mate," James sniggered, entwining his fingers with Lily's as Sirius' cheeks turned pink.

"Bloody eavesdroppers."

Lily snorted, "I don't think it qualifies as eavesdropping when there's no possible way we couldn't have heard."

"Amen," Remus said, and Peter snickered.

"You lot are just jealous," Sirius scoffed, "Especially Moony."

"If you make another joke about-"

"I think shagging Prongs would be less torturous than this," Peter snickered to Lily, who rolled her eyes as James beamed and turned to her, his gaze expectant.

"As much as I'm sure Prongs is looking forward to that," Remus said dryly, as James continued to pester Lily, "There are more important things for us to do right now."

"You say that like you were invited," James scoffed. Remus shot him a dirty look, but otherwise ignored him.

"I agree, what did you mean by 'us'?" Lily inquired innocently, and James grinned, throwing his arm around her as Remus rolled his eyes.

"If you two are done acting like children-"

"What kind of children do you spend time with?"

"I think it's about time the lot of us figured out how to destroy this," Remus said, ignoring the now giggling couple, and pulling the ring box out of his pocket. They had taken turns pocketing the ring each day, so there was no possibility of anyone getting unduly influenced by the Horcrux's powers, "As far as I know, none of us have a clue."

"That's not very nice Moony, I mean, we all read those damn books, we all have an equal amount of clue," Sirius said miserably, eyeing the ring box with disgust.

"Be that as it may," Remus gritted out through clenched teeth, causing James to smirk, "we don't have a sword of Gryffindor lying around the flat, last I checked."

"Nor do we have a basilisk skeleton," Peter piped in, and Sirius snorted.

" _Really_ Pete?" he sneered, and Peter flushed, "I had no fucking clue, thanks ever so much for-"

"That's enough," Lily said, placing her hand on Sirius' forearm as a warning, "Whatever it may be, we need to figure out how to destroy the thing," she said sternly, shooting Sirius a pointed look. Remus gave a curt nod in agreement, before leaning down to pick up one of the large tomes littered underneath his bed.

"We should probably start with-"

Sirius let out a loud groan, dropping his head back and covering his face with his hands, "No more books," he whined, his voice muffled through his fingers, "I can _not_ spend another day reading those damn things."

"I'm sorry, but when have you ever spent a day reading these?" Remus scoffed, quirking a brow at Sirius, who simply groaned once more.

"I'll read with you," Peter piped in, and Remus shot him a sardonic look before turning back to look at Sirius through narrowed eyes.

"We _all_ have to put in the effort-"

"How about Prongs and I go do something outdoors? Something productive?" Sirius suggested hopefully, his head snapping up as he shot James a pleading look.

"But why do _I_ have to go outside?" James asked, brow furrowed, and Sirius shot him a dark look as Remus sent a smirk his way.

"It's settled then, we're all staying here and sifting through the-"

"Lily will _you_ come with me?" Sirius whined, causing James to snort.

"Mate, you really think _Lily_ is going to abandon a research session? It's what she lives for."

"I resent that," Lily protested, whacking James in the arm lightly. The boy merely smirked at her, which Lily chose to ignore, "Sirius, I think Remus is right, we all _have to_ pitch in so that we can finally-"

"All right, _all right_ woman, there's no need to nag," Sirius grumbled, waving his wand and summoning the book Remus was still holding. Remus opened his mouth to protest, but after a stern look from Lily, simply mumbled angrily to himself as he reached for another book and opened it ferociously.

"We could have avoided all of this if you'd just accepted my proposition," James whispered, and Lily shook her head fondly, sending him an exasperated smile.

"You have an entirely one-track mind," she teased, and he winked, causing her to laugh.

"If you don't mind, some of us are trying to read," Sirius sneered.

"Some of us have already contributed massively," James quipped back, and Sirius let out a bark of laughter as Remus lowered his book, his eyes full of disbelief, focused on James.

"And just what have you contributed?" Lily giggled, cocking a brow at her grinning fiancé, who gasped.

"Lily! How could you forget my invaluable discovery of Little Hangleton?" he near-yelled. Lily laughed as Remus, who had obviously heard this many times, rolled his eyes and dropped his head down to rest on his book. Sirius simply continued to look at James, his expression mildly disgusted, "Need I remind you, that without my _utter brilliance_ -"

"Wasn't the index thing credited to Lily?" Peter asked. Remus rolled his eyes at him.

"-we would have not been in _possession_ of the very thing we are trying to destroy!" James continued, ignoring the interaction between Remus and Peter.

"So does that mean you're not going to help us figure out how to destroy the thing?" Sirius drawled, and James shrugged.

"How will we manage without his _utter brilliance_?" Remus mocked. James turned to him, amused, while Lily grinned, cleaning up the plates as the boys continued to bicker over James' involvement in the research.

Truth be told, she had been feeling excessively guilty for not contributing more to the Horcrux process. With almost an attack a day, the St. Mungos staff had been busier than ever. The Senior Healers had taken to leaving all their dictations to the trainees, as between their various patients and attack victims there had barely been any time for them to complete their workload. Therefore, Lily, Alma and the rest of the trainees spent the majority of the earlier half of each day scribbling in various charts and listening to Healers' recordings. Most nights, Lily wouldn't get back to the flat until well after dinner, too knackered to do anything other than curl up on James' chest and fall asleep listening to the steady pounding of his heart.

The boys, on the other hand, had been aggressively researching ways to destroy Horcruxes, feeling more and more agitated each day that Voldemort would realize they were in possession of one, and that they would be discovered. James and Remus had been unfortunate enough to come across a group of Death Eaters while turning round a corner outside Diagon Alley, but had managed to apparate away before the Death Eaters had noticed them. Voldemorts' presence was ever increasing, but the _Daily Prophet_ was becoming more and more useless in reporting his movement, focusing instead on Quidditch to distract the public from their harsh reality.

Lily sighed sadly as she rinsed off the plates, having realized a few weeks previously that doing menial tasks the muggle way had an inexplicable calming effect, as if the task required so little brain power that she was able to shut down completely. In the past days alone, she had held the hands of over twenty victims in attacks, half of whom didn't survive overnight. After Gideon and Fabian had been discharged, she had had nary a moment of peace at the hospital. Even lunch hours with Alma were proving strenuous, with both of them so lost in their emotions and the horror of it all that it was too much effort to keep up a conversation.

She jumped as a pair of arms slipped around her waist, hugging her from behind, "Oh, sorry," James chuckled, as she accidentally tilted a plate and sprayed herself with water.

"You really sound it," she said, her voice layered with sarcasm. James simply chuckled again, dropping his chin to her shoulder and placing a quick kiss on her neck.

"What's the matter?"

"Nothing," she sighed, switching off the tap and leaning back against him, holding onto his arms, as if to hold him in place.

"This may come as a shock, but I don't believe you," he said, with another gentle kiss, and Lily sighed once more, closing her eyes as she tilted her head back.

"I'm just knackered," she said after a moment's silence, and James squeezed his arms around her more tightly.

"Want to go back to bed? I promise I won't follow you," he added. She could hear the smile in his voice, and found herself fighting a grin as she continued to lean back on him.

"No, it's fine, I want to help out," she said, opening her eyes and nodding towards the living room, "I've barely been any help in the whole process, I just feel so guilty, like if we manage it all, I'll end up just taking credit without even doing anything."

"That's rubbish Lily, no one thinks that," he chastised, loosening his hold on her so he could use his hands on her hips to turn her around to face him. She looked up at him, her eyes wide, and he couldn't resist dropping another sweet kiss on her forehead, "You're doing so much for all these people, and every day I can see it take bits and pieces of you away," he sighed sadly, shaking his head as he looked down at her earnestly, "You're doing amazing things Lil, we all think so," he said, nodding towards the living room.

"I love you," she said, smiling slightly, and James rolled his eyes, lips quirking up at the corners.

"You only say that when I give you a motivational speech," he scoffed, and Lily laughed, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him down to her, burying her face in his shoulder.

"I suppose that's why you keep giving me speeches, is it?"

"Obviously," he snorted, and Lily laughed, "I don't actually _care_ for your well being. My motivations are entirely selfish and egotistical."

"I thought so," she giggled, hugging him more tightly before letting him go and grinning up at him, "How do you always manage to make me feel better?"

"I'm just a very talented bloke Lil, don't take it personally," he said cheekily, and she rolled her eyes, giving his arm a painless pinch.

"You're a tosser."

"But you fancy me anyway," he grinned, and Lily rolled her eyes, smirking, before turning around and waving her wand at the dishes so they'd clean themselves.

"Come on, let's go read some stupid books," she sighed, and James gasped, clasping at his chest dramatically.

"Books? _Stupid_? What's gotten into you?"

"James, shut up," she advised, dragging him back into the living room as he continued to cackle.

"What's he done now?" Remus' disinterested voice sounded from where he was now lying on his bed.

"Don't ask," Lily chuckled, pushing her still cackling fiancé into a chair and handing him one of the books, "I'm going to jump in the shower if that's all right with you lot," she said, stretching her arms above her head, "I'm too sleepy to be useful right now."

"No worries," Sirius said, turning a page lazily as his intelligent eyes continued to scan the contents, "we'll make sure Prongs doesn't follow you," he added, a twinkle in his eye as his lips quirked up.

"That would be much appreciated," Lily laughed, as James threw the closest item, a fork, at Sirius, who lazily lifted his wand and transfigured it into a feather.

"Really Prongs, you can do better," Sirius smirked, lifting his eyes and shooting his best mate a mocking look. James simply scoffed and opened the book Lily had given him, causing Remus to snicker.

"Way to choose the high road, Prongs."

"Don't make me come over there, Moony."

Before Remus could open his mouth to retort once more, Peter cleared his throat, directing the boys' attention to him, "I don't mean to be daft, but when exactly is the next full moon?" he asked, frowning slightly, and both James and Sirius cocked their brows at Remus.

"A couple days," Remus mumbled, pushing himself up into a seated position, one knee bent and his arm dangling off of it.

"Why didn't you bring it up sooner?" Sirius questioned, his brow furrowing with concern as he took in Remus' sullen expression, "you usually start to feel the symptoms well before now," he added, narrowing his eyes as Remus bit his lip guiltily.

"Why didn't you remind us?" James said, having caught on to Remus' shifty eyes and nervous expression as well, "I'm sorry we didn't remember mate, there's just been a lot going on, but that doesn't mean it's not important."

"He's right," Peter piped in, frowning at Remus, "is that why you've been so moody these past couple days?"

"I haven't been-"

"All right," James said, ignoring Remus' indignant expression and Peter's slightly panicked one, "that's not what matters here," he said, shooting Peter a mildly annoyed look for his lack of tact, "We need to find a place."

"Yes," Sirius said, sitting up straight and placing his book down on the table, "let me think. We can always apparate to a forest," he mused, and James shrugged, frowning slightly as he scratched at the back of his neck, trying to remember if he'd inadvertently come across any viable options since moving into the flat.

"But we'd need a few days to scout out," he said, frowning as he looked off to his right, deep in thought, "You know, to make sure there are no Muggles out and about, camping and what not."

Peter groaned, dropping his head in his hands, "the Forbidden Forest was so convenient," he murmured, and Sirius snorted in agreement.

"Suppose if we went far enough in, we probably would be safe."

"Probably would isn't really good enough," James disagreed, biting his lip as he turned to Remus, who had remained uncharacteristically quiet throughout the conversation. The boy in question however wasn't looking back at him, his shaggy head instead bent and his eyes focused on an invisible speck of lint on the bed, "What's the matter Moony?" James asked, his voice laced with concern.

"Nothing, nothing," Remus murmured, rubbing the back of his neck. He turned his head quickly as Lily walked back into the room, her dark auburn hair wet and hanging down her back, "Hey Lil," he greeted loudly, in an obvious attempt to change the subject.

"Hey there," she smiled, seating herself down on the floor, cross-legged, and browsing through the stack of books, "What's going on?"

"We were just trying to figure-"

"Nothing," James lied easily, cutting Sirius off, having caught on that Remus no longer wished to discuss the subject. Sirius shot him a bewildered look, but he simply shook his head, earning a grateful smile from Remus.

"Figure out what?" Lily asked, cocking a brow at James, who smiled sheepishly.

"How to defeat the Horcruxes, of course," Peter pitched in, as Lily continued to look dubious. Lily turned her gaze to him, and he cleared his throat, "none of us can really focus so we thought talking it through would help."

"That's a good idea," Lily said, smiling around at the others, who managed to look as if this was completely true, "what have you figured so far?"

"We were waiting for you love," Sirius said, winking at Lily, who rolled her eyes as James chuckled, "It's a well known fact that your brain power exceeds our own."

"You must really be trying to cover something up if you're giving me that much credit, Sirius," Lily snorted, winking at his baffled face as James smirked.

"And you lot told me off for telling her our secrets, try lying to that," he said, waving his hand in Lily's general direction. Lily's raised her eyebrows at him, a threat, but he simply blew her a kiss in response.

"I apologize for all the slander, my friend," Sirius sighed, clapping James on the back, and earning an eye roll from Remus.

"It's about time," James sighed dramatically, and Lily shook her head fondly as Peter snickered.

"Anyway," she said loudly, before Sirius could open his mouth and declare her a hag or something of the sort, "Horcruxes," she said, shooting a pointed look at Remus, obviously the most sensible option, who nodded seriously.

"So far we know they have to be damaged beyond magical repair," he said, and Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Stop doing that thing where you say general knowledge out loud to sound smarter than us," he snorted, and Remus scoffed.

"One doesn't need to spew general knowledge around you lot to come across as smarter," Remus said, before smirking, "one simply has to be in your presence."

"Oh you little _cretin_ -"

Lily rolled her eyes as Sirius and Remus continued to bicker, admiring the way Peter was able to continue scanning a book with all the nonsense happening around him. James was simply chewing on the end of his quill, grinning at the banter.

"We're never going to get anything done," Lily grumbled, grabbing the book that looked most promising and flipping it open to the table of contents, her index finger skimming down the page, looking for a suitable option, "Where's that bloody parchment? Didn't you make a list of ways to destroy one?" she asked, raising her voice slightly to be heard over Remus and Sirius' rubbish.

"Yes, _I_ made the list," James said smugly, causing Remus and Sirius to finally stop bickering and groan.

"Thanks Lily," Sirius muttered, throwing her a look over his shoulder as James once again began to recount his utter brilliance as he sifted through the stack of parchment in front of him.

"He makes sure none of us ever have his stack," Remus added, rolling his eyes as James slapped Sirius' hand away from the objects in question, "Says it just goes to show how useless we all are without him."

"Something about power, it usually is," Peter added, grinning at her.

"Sounds like James," Lily giggled, watching as James took a gracious bow and handed a sheet to Sirius, who, naturally, snatched it away with a sneer. Sirius pushed back his dark locks and handed the parchment to Lily, who scanned it quickly.

"James, this is the least helpful thing in this entire flat," she said bluntly, and James gaped as the other three sniggered.

"I beg your pardon!"

"You have it," she quipped, throwing him a quick wink, before looking back down at the parchment with a sigh, "there's nothing new on here, it's just a statement of what we already knew-"

"See Moony? _Least_ helpful thing, spewing out general knowledge like a fucking general," Sirius drawled. Remus' jaw dropped. Before he could retort, however, Lily placed a gentle hand on his forearm.

"It's okay Remus, at least he acknowledged that you're in charge," she said, and Remus laughed, "It's a small victory."

"That's all you get with this lot," he snorted.

"It is too a helpful list," James huffed once more, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes at Lily, who met his with her rolling ones, "it lists basilisk venom, fiendfyre, the sword of Gryffindor-"

"None of which we have, and all of which we already knew," Lily said, cutting him off, and James' jaw clapped shut. Sirius shot him a mocking grin.

"Your utter brilliance is unparalleled Prongs, truly," he sniggered, and James reached out to swat the back of the head as he continued to make fun.

"What we need to think of is alternate ways," Lily said, and Peter nodded.

"I agree," he said, causing both James and Sirius to turn to him in irritation, "Look here," he said, pointing out a passage in his book. Both Lily and Remus leaned towards it, eyes squinting to decipher the small print, "it talks about elfish magic being supremely useful in destroying many artifacts in the past."

"Yeah, but we already know Kreacher was fucking useless in the books, and he gave it his all didn't he?" Sirius said with a bitter expression, as he usually got when discussing the house elf in question, who had, as they'd read in the book, ultimately led him to his death without nary a thought.

"Well, okay," Peter said, biting at his lip and flipping back a few pages, "you know, how we were talking about the fact that the sword was goblin made, and that that could possibly mean any goblin made sword-"

"Could defeat a Horcrux, yeah," James interrupted, nodding his head as he frowned at the book in Peter's hands, too far away to make out anything more than black lines, "think you and Moony were looking that up yesterday, weren't you?"

"Yeah," Peter said, nodding, "well, I found the answer," he said, and Remus ruffled his hair, "yes, thanks," he said vaguely, shooing Remus' hand away, causing the other three to laugh, "you shouldn't be too happy, it's not helpful," he said miserably, causing the laughter to stop abruptly.

Lily reached forwards and pulled the book out of Peter's grasp, and looked down at the fine print, "it says that Goblin made artifacts absorb things that can strengthen it," she said.

"So won't that just make the sword as powerful as the Horcrux?" Sirius asked, and Remus sighed.

"Sort of, but it does also mean that we can't use any old sword," he said, and James shrugged.

"So why don't we go find a goblin made sword?"

"Not entirely sure the goblins will be wiling to relinquish a sword of theirs to wizards," Peter said, shaking his head as he nodded down at the book, "I was reading about it. Turns out there's only a handful of Goblin made swords in wizard possession."

"And there's no guarantee any old goblin made sword will work," Remus added as his eyes scanned the page, "as far as we know, the sword of Gryffindor may have only worked because it was that, a sword of Gryffindors. There could have been any old magic going on," he said sadly.

"Or they may not have been," Peter suggested hopefully, and Lily chuckled, shaking her head fondly as she brought all her wet hair over her shoulder, and began to braid it.

"Yes, but if you remember correctly, the sword of Gryffindor, when used on the locket, had already absorbed basilisk venom," she added, and Peter's expression fell, "So Remus may be right."

"Well, on the other hand, we might find a goblin made sword, and could just be overreacting, it could work perfectly fine," Sirius suggested, and James shook his head sadly.

"Yeah, maybe, but we're not sure. Personally, I think it seems fairly unlikely. I think Lil's right about the basilisk venom. And frankly, I don't know about you lot, but I think the sooner we destroy this damn thing the better. It could take us months to find a goblin made sword, and if it doesn't even work, that's months wasted all for a dead end," he said, eyes narrowing as he looked down at the ring box in front of Sirius with disgust.

"Which would make it even more time before we destroyed it, and put off our finding another one," Lily agreed sadly, "it feels like we're tempting fate, having that in here," she said quietly, nodding in the boxes general direction, making sure not to look at it.

"Right," Sirius said, nodding slightly, "Well, we'll find another way. There can't only be so many ways to destroy something beyond magical repair. I reckon there are tons, and that we haven't even brushed the surface."

"I've been wondering," Peter said slowly, biting his lip as the tips of his ears turned red, "it's probably a really stupid thought, and it probably won't even be-"

"Oh for fucks sake, what _is it_ Wormtail?" Sirius groaned, and Peter cleared his throat, his flush darkening. James shot Sirius a warning look.

"Should we maybe try to go into the Chamber of Secrets?" he said, his voice getting smaller as the phrase progressed. His question was met by silence, and he dropped his head, "Sorry, I told you, it sounded stupid to me too, but I was just thinking, I mean, we know where it is, and if we could just get the basilisk out-"

"Only the heir of Slytherin could do so," Lily said gently, shooting Sirius a warning look of her own as he opened his mouth, seemingly to mock Peter, "besides, how would we even kill it?"

"Maybe the sword would appear for us?" Peter said desperately, and surprisingly, it was Sirius who shook his head, and when he spoke, he didn't sound the least bit condescending.

"I doubt it'd appear if we went looking for trouble," he said, and Peter sighed, nodding his acquiescence.

"It's a nice thought though, isn't it?" James said dreamily, and Lily rolled her eyes as Sirius sent a smirk his way, "we'd open the chamber, kill the monster, and we'd have the sword too."

"And since it's a heroic tale, you'd get to snog Lily afterwards," Sirius sniggered, and James beamed.

"Well, obviously."

"Yes, yes, that's all well and nice, let's try and actually be productive, yeah?" Lily said, attempting to mask her amusement but doing a very poor job of it.

"And what makes you think we could even defeat a basilisk," Remus added with a scoff, and both Sirius and James let out noises of displeasure.

"Moony, you cad-"

" _Us_? Unable to-"

The two continued on with their ridiculous protests, bringing a smile to even Remus' face. He eventually held his hands up in surrender and apologized profusely for the shameful insinuation.

"Now that that's dealt with," Lily giggled, shaking her head as Sirius and James shook hands and congratulated each other on being confident in their heroic capabilities, "let's get back to the books."

Though met with general groaning and whinging, eventually the boys dutifully picked up their books and got back to work.

* * *

"I can't believe we didn't find a single thing," Remus muttered angrily, lying back on his bed and closing his eyes. His head was starting to pound, one of the usual side effects of a full moon approaching, not helped by the hours of reading small print they'd just undergone.

"Fucking useless," Sirius agreed angrily, slamming another book on top of the pile rather ferociously.

"It wasn't useless," Lily sighed, lolling her head back and rolling it from side to side to ease out the stiffness in her neck.

"Oh, please, do enlighten me," Sirius snorted, earning a sour look from James for his tone.

"Well, at least we have a more certain path forwards. It's good that we ruled out all these various options," she said slowly, pointing at the piece of parchment lying beside her, full of her loopy handwriting, listing out destructive forces that would not aid them in their goal.

"True," Remus muttered bitterly, holding back a groan as his head gave a rather potent pang.

"What's the matter?" James asked, eyes focused on Remus' pained expression and pale disposition. He'd noticed the dark circles under Remus' eyes a few days ago, but had merely attributed that to the stress of their task.

"My head," Remus said after a moments pause, deciding there was no harm in letting his closest friends know that he was in pain.

"Pounding again?" Sirius asked, concern laced in his otherwise snarky voice. Remus grimaced, and Sirius took that for an affirmative answer, "I'll go make you a hot chocolate," he said, "Those usually help."

Without waiting for an answer, Sirius hurried into the kitchen.

"I think Hestia's had a positive influence on him," James snickered, looking after his best mate, "we rarely get to see his soft side."

"It's a nice change," Lily giggled, standing up and stretching her arms above her head, "Paternal Sirius really is one of my favourite Sirius's."

"I wasn't aware there was more than one Sirius," Peter snorted, and Lily laughed.

"There isn't, but who knows, he could have hundreds of personalities running around in there," she said, and James guffawed.

"That would explain a lot," he said, smirking as Sirius marched back into the room, a mug of steaming chocolate in his hands. He hurried over to Remus and ducked down beside him, placing the hot chocolate on the floor.

"Come on," he said, placing his hands under Remus' shoulders and attempting to help him up into a seated position.

"What-stop- _Padfoot_ what the bloody fuck are you doing?" Remus squawked, trying to push Sirius away, but the other boy was determined.

"Shut up Moony," Sirius snapped, "just let me help you, for fucks sake," he placed his hands more determinedly under Remus and began to push him up, ignoring Remus' attempts to slap him away. Watching on, Lily grinned, wrapping her arms around herself as she watched Sirius look after Remus.

"What?" James chuckled, appearing behind her and placing his hands on her hips, dropping a quick kiss on top of her head, "Why are you smiling like that?"

"It's just so sweet," she grinned, nodding at where Sirius was now holding the mug, claiming Remus wasn't strong enough to be holding it himself, and attempting got get a very angry Remus to drink. Remus was of course resisting, refusing to take a sip until Sirius handed him the mug so he could feed himself.

"Sirius always gets like this around full moon," Peter piped in quietly, so that the bickering pair wouldn't be able to hear, "though he's never this _nice_ ," he added, sounding none to pleased about the change in Sirius' disposition.

"I never really saw him much around full moon last year," Lily mused, frowning as she tried to remember. She jumped, alarmed, when James snorted behind her.

"Because he used to camp out in the Hospital Wing to make sure Remus was tended to properly," he sniggered, and Lily beamed.

"That's so cute!"

"Yes, well, Pomfrey certainly didn't seem to think so," Peter snickered, "I don't know who was more annoyed by Sirius' presence, her or Remus."

"I think it was an even tie," James sniggered, "that woman has a set of lungs on her like a banshee. Could hear her screaming at Sirius to get out all the way down the corridor."

"She gave in eventually though," Peter said, grinning as Sirius pressed the mug to Remus' mouth, only for Remus to purse his lips and narrow his eyes at Sirius, "Thought it was sweet."

"I'm sure," Lily laughed, covering James' hands with her own and threading her fingers through his, "Who's going to win this?" she asked, nodding towards where Sirius now had hot chocolate dripping down Remus' chin, having tipped the mug to no effect, as Remus had chosen to keep his lips shut tight.

"Sirius," both Peter and James snickered, as Remus, having realized Sirius was getting hot chocolate on his sheets, sent Sirius a dark look and conceded, taking a sip.

"Remus doesn't like being babied so much," James added, grinning as Sirius finally let Remus take the mug, deciding that now that he'd had some he'd have enough strength to hold it himself. Remus rolled his eyes as he grabbed the mug, but Lily didn't miss the small smile on his face as Sirius turned away, raving about lunacy and idiots who don't look after themselves.

"I think Remus likes that Sirius cares," she said, and James grinned, nodding his head.

"Fucking idiot," Sirius muttered, walking over to James and Lily. He pushed James away from Lily, causing the boy in question to stumble, and holler out about abuse, and threw his own arm around Lily instead.

"Excuse me, but I was there," James huffed, attempting to push Sirius off Lily, who was rolling her eyes, obviously used to this kind of physical abuse. Sirius simply tightened his arm around her neck and grinned at James.

"Push me again and I'll strangle her."

"Lovely," Lily snorted, as James pushed Sirius again, causing Peter to laugh, "and they say chivalry is dead."

"Fear not love, I'll save you," James said, poking the secretly ticklish Sirius in the side. Sirius squeaked and let go of Lily, moving away from James, who happily threw his arm around her, "see?"

"My hero," she deadpanned, and James laughed. He opened his mouth to say something else, when a tapping on the window distracted them.

James' parents owl was hovering outside the window, a note in its' beak. Sirius, the closest, dashed to the window and let the owl in. It flew straight to James, dropped a letter in his palm, and flew back.

"Must not be expecting a reply," Sirius said, his voice wavering slightly. Every time an owl arrived from James' parents these days, they expected news of an attack, of Euphemia ill once more, of something worse.

James took a deep breath and opened the letter, grateful for Lily's hand on his back, as he read: _Come home now_. _It's urgent._

"What's going on?" Sirius asked, as James handed Lily the letter, his brow furrowed.

"I don't know," he said, shaking his head as Lily frowned up at him. She noticed the strain in his expression, and took his hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

"I'll come with you," she said, and James nodded, squeezing her hand back as he threw a panicked look at Sirius.

"It'll be all right," Sirius said, nodding his head. His voice, however, was shaking, and he looked worriedly down at the parchment, "You should probably go."

"We'll be here, let us know if you need us," Remus said, and with a salute, the two disappeared.

* * *

"Mum?" James called, holding Lily's hand as he entered the living room, "Dad?"

"James!" Euphemia's voice called, as she waved them over from one of the extravagant sofas. James hurried over, dropping down and holding her hand in his.

"Is everything okay?" he asked worriedly, his eyes tracing over her aged face. Her hair, more silver than it was dark, was up in a bun, as she usually kept it, but her eyes looked like they'd aged, like she hadn't been sleeping, "Are you feeling well?"

"Of course I am, don't be ridiculous dear," she tutted, patting his cheek lovingly and extracting her hand from his.

"What's the matter then?" he asked, sitting back and narrowing his eyes at her, "What's so urgent?"

"Oh you brought Lily, lovely," she said, noticing her for the first time. She grinned and beckoned the girl over, "Actually this makes matters easier, saves you having to go back and get her."

"What are you talking about?" James snapped, crossing his arms, and Eupehmia clucked her tongue.

"Watch your tone, James, I am still your mother," she said, shooting him a warning look, and James bit the side of his cheek, obviously reigning in his temper.

"You worried me."

"I'm an old woman, it's my right," she said, before gesturing for James and Lily to take a seat on the sofa across from her. When they finally did, Lily taking James' hand in an attempt to soothe him, she grinned.

"What's this all about then?" James asked after a moment of his mothers delirious grinning, "Why did you send me that note?"

"Well you can't plan a wedding without the bride and groom, now, can you?" she said simply.

James and Lily gaped at her.

"You-you-you _what_?"

"Tone, James," she reminded, winking at Lily, who had started to shake with restrained laughter.

"But-I mean- _Mum_!" he yelled, getting to his feet, "I thought you were _ill_ , we came rushing over to make sure you hadn't fallen down the stairs or anything and you've just conned us here to talk about-to plan a bloody wedding?"

"There's no need to shout James," Euphemia chastised, whipping out her wand and summoning a large pile of books and magazines. Lily looked down at them and almost burst out laughing upon seeing that the top one was a muggle bridal magazine, "And it's not just any 'bloody wedding', it's yours, now sit down," she added, pointing imperiously at the sofa.

James sputtered for a few moments, before looking down at Lily, who simply grinned up at him and shrugged. He let out a frustrated groan and sat down moodily, his mouth turned down petulantly.

"Next time just tell me why you need me over here."

"You wouldn't have come so quickly if I'd summoned you for wedding planning," Euphemia laughed, before turning to Lily, "I wasn't sure if you'd want a muggle wedding or not, dear, so I did a little research into those as well," she said, picking up one of the muggle bridal magazines. Her enthusiasm was so transparent, that Lily couldn't help but grin.

"I really don't mind," she said, shrugging her shoulders, very aware of the fact that James had suddenly started to pay attention, snapping out of his seething to turn to her, his eyes alight with curiosity, "I come from a really small family, just mum, dad, Petunia and I. Mum and dad were both only children, and none of their parents are still alive," she shrugged. Euphemia nodded, scribbling something down on a piece of parchment she'd pulled out from beneath the pile, which was already covered with her elegant handwriting.

"Well that's fair, not to mention there isn't anyone more than the three of us from James' side," she mused, winking at James, who flushed, "looks like you two will have to get busy and extend the family soon, we're pathetically short on numbers."

"Mum!" James squawked, his ears turning red as Lily flushed, looking down at her lap.

"You are planning on having children, aren't you?" Euphemia asked, cocking a brow at James, who only groaned and dropped his hand into his hands.

" _Mum_."

"What, darling, it's a fair question?"

"We'll have to invite the boys as well," Lily piped in, changing the topic before James, who was an all-new shade of red now, could continue yelling at his mother, "it'll still be a small wedding, but they're practically family."

"Yes, naturally, I've already got Sirius, Remus and Peter written down," she said, tapping her quill on the piece of parchment where, Lily could now see, she had indeed scribbled down a few names for a guest list, "Was there anyone else you'd want to invite?"

"Alice," James said, and Lily nodded her head, shooting him a small smile.

"Yes, Alice and Frank," she said, watching nervously as Euphemia continued to scribble things down, "and, Alma," she added, and Euphemia smiled.

"The charming trainee at St. Mungos?" she asked, and Lily nodded, smiling.

"I assume all these people will be getting a plus one?" she asked, and James shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I mean, we'll have to invite Hestia as well, only because we'd never hear the bloody end of it if we didn't," he said, and Lily smirked.

"From who?"

"Either of them," James snorted, and Lily laughed. Euphemia shot James and questioning look, and he flushed.

"That's who Sirius is seeing," Lily said, and almost jumped back as Euphemia let out the happiest squeal.

"Oh _lovely_ , how _wonderful_!" she said excitedly, scribbling down Hestia's name on the list, "I'm _so_ chuffed. I thought the poor boy would never meet anyone. He's so cheeky, honestly," she added, her voice dripping with adoration, and James rolled his eyes.

"So there's really no point in plus ones, is there, if everyone's significant other is invited?" Lily asked James, who chuckled.

"True," he said, and Euphemia nodded seriously, scratching something out on her parchment, "anyone else you want to invite, love?"

"Healer Cromwell," she said, and James smirked.

"The master manipulator," he said, and Lily shot him a chastising look as he sniggered.

"We'll probably have to give Petunia a plus one," Lily grumbled reluctantly, and James let out a loud groan, alarming his mother.

"I don't _want_ him to come!"

"James, don't be rude," Euphemia tutted.

"But _Mum_ -"

"That's enough," she said, writing down a very exaggerated '+1' next to Petunia's name. James pouted, and Lily giggled, squeezing his hand, "Anyone else?"

"Well, you never know, James might meet some people when he starts Auror training," Lily mused, and Euphemia grinned proudly at the mere mention of her son's success.

"Of course," she said, smiling at James dotingly. James stuck his tongue out at her.

"Do we want to invite anyone else?" Lily asked James, who shrugged.

"We could invite people from the Order."

"Oh of course!" Lily grinned, "Gid and Fab are lovely, and I'd absolutely love it if Dumbledore and McGonagall could come," she said, and James rolled his eyes as she continued to titter beside him, "and the Weasleys!"

"We barely know the Weasleys," James chuckled, watching as Lily became more animated by the minute, "and doesn't Alma need a plus one for that boy she's been seeing? The other trainee?"

"Oh, Owen," Lily said, nodding, and James rolled his eyes.

"How is it _I_ remembered that, and you didn't?"

"Shut up James," she said, and turned back to Euphemia, who was watching them interact with a dreamy expression on her face.

"Now, James, I imagine you'll be wearing something traditional to the wizarding world," Euphemia mused, and James dropped his head in his hands as Lily beamed, "some smart dress robes. We'll have to go shopping darling, and take the boys with us. Sorry Lily darling, but it's probably best you don't see him, same way he won't be allowed to come when you're shopping," she said, and Lily laughed as James sent his mother a disbelieving look, "Now, when will you be free dear?" she asked James, who simply gaped, "well if you're starting work on Monday, well, dear me, that doesn't give us much free time, I know how busy you'll be, dear. We could go tomorrow!" she suddenly exclaimed, and James' jaw dropped.

"We don't need to do it _now_ ," James said, turning to look at Lily, who looked like she was enjoying the situation far too much, "I mean, when are you planning on getting us married?"

"Well dear, that depends, when do you want to get married?" she asked, and both James and Lily flushed.

"Er, I mean, we haven't really talked about it that much," James said awkwardly, turning to Lily.

"I'd have to talk to my parents as well," Lily said slowly, and Euphemia gasped.

"Oh dear me, I'm so sorry darling, of course we can't discuss this without the Evans'!" she looked incredibly flustered all of a sudden, and James rolled his eyes, amused.

"Don't worry so much Mum, we can literally pop over there right now and ask them if we wanted to," he joked, but wanted to bite his tongue as Euphemia's eyes lit up.

"Oh _darling_ that's such a wonderful idea! Lily, dear, why don't you pop over and ask them if they want to come help us!"

"Oh, er, well, I don't know if they're home," Lily stammered, and James smirked down at her.

"It won't take you long to check," he said, and Lily shot him an irritated look before sighing and standing up.

"I'll go take a look," she said, and smiled at Euphemia before turning on the spot. James continued to snicker on the sofa, before catching his mothers' eye and falling silent.

"Now, dear," Euphemia said, biting her lip, "about the rings."

"Mum-"

"Your father and I were looking, and found these," she said, pulling a small pouch from her pocket and handing it to James, who looked down at it, baffled.

"Where did you get these?"

"They've been in the family for generations," she said, smiling as James opened the pouch curiously, and tipped the contents into his hand, "I think they belonged to your fathers great grandfather," she said.

"They're beautiful," he said, looking back up at his mother and beaming. She beamed back. Suddenly, her expression shifted, and James fought the urge to laugh, groan and cry at the same time. Her eyes started to tear as she looked at her son, and she found herself sniffling, "Oh for Merlin's sake, Mum," James groaned, as Euphemia began to weep.

"I just, I can't believe it," she sniffed, and James handed her a tissue, rolling his eyes as she went to pieces, "You're all grown up, and getting _married_ , oh _James_ ," she cried, throwing her arms around him, and James rolled his eyes, patting his mother on the back as she continued to go to pieces on his shoulder.

Lily reappeared then, her face growing confused as she took in the scene in front of her- Euphemia weeping, and James simply looking amused.

"What did you say to her?" she whispered to James, who simply rolled his eyes and continued rubbing his mothers back.

"Oh!" Euphemia choked, letting go of James and wiping at her eyes furiously, before patting his cheek affectionately and turning to Lily, "did you find them?"

"Mum said she'd be very much up for a rendezvous to plan the wedding at some point this week," she said, and Euphemia clapped, elated.

"Wonderful, I'll make sure to owl her, oh," she stopped, her eyes widening slightly, "They'll be all right with owl mail right?"

"Yes, of course," Lily smiled, nodding, and Euphemia visibly relaxed, going back to her scribbling.

* * *

"It's about time you lot got back here," Remus grumbled, as Lily and James apparated back into the room, "You've been gone hours."

"Feels like days," James groaned, dropping down into one of the dining table chairs and covering his face with his hands. Lily laughed and ruffled his hair.

"Stop being so dramatic," she teased, turning back to Remus, "what have you been doing in our absence?"

" _I_ have been confined to bed rest," Remus spat, glaring as James let out an amused snort, "Stupid fucking dictator, I don't see where he gets off telling me to stay in bed. I'm fucking bored."

"If I recall correctly, you were whining because I woke you up," Sirius said, sauntering back into the room, a smug smirk on his face, "we're even now."

"Fuck off you stupid sod," Remus grumbled, and Sirius smirked.

"Such a lovely boy," he said, ruffling Remus' hair, easily dodging the arm that shot out to attack him, "nice of you to show up," he added, winking at Lily, who chuckled.

"We were kept hostage," she said, "Euphemia wanted to discuss wedding plans," she said, and Peter sniggered.

"Must be a very Potter trait," he said, and Sirius guffawed as James slowly lifted his head to shoot Peter a dark look.

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"It means you went on about the proposal for fucking eons," Sirius said, and James flushed as Lily turned to beam at him.

"So this is clearly your penance," Remus sniggered, and James huffed, crossing his arms.

"I didn't bore you with clothing," he grumbled, and Sirius sniggered.

"No, but we were properly scarred. Or do you not remember the slicked back hair?"

"All right, leave him alone," said Lily, gently sifting her fingers through James' hair. The boy closed his eyes and hummed contentedly.

"So when is the big day?" Peter queried, and James snorted.

"All those hours and we didn't even pick one," he said, and Lily rolled her eyes as Peter adopted a bemused expression.

"We didn't discuss it, because we hadn't talked to _my_ parents yet," she said, and James gasped.

"We have to do this _again_?"

"We're getting _married_ James, it takes a lot of planning."

"I thought you were upset Lily _wasn't_ frantically planning?" Remus teased, and James huffed once more.

"I wasn't _upset_."

"Just bitter," Sirius quipped, and James stuck his tongue out at him.

"Well James, you can only have it one way. Either I eagerly plan the wedding, or I don't bother, your choice," Lily said sweetly, kissing him on top of the head. James grumbled something under his breath, "Sorry, what was that?"

"All right, leave him alone," Sirius mimicked, and Lily rolled her eyes as James smirked, "Fuck, this is why I'm never getting married."

"I wouldn't pose any kind of hope on that," Lily smirked, and Sirius turned to her, bewildered, "I mean, have you met Hestia?"

"We're not getting _married_ ," Sirius hissed, his voice jumping a few octaves. Remus smirked.

"Yet," he said in a carrying whisper.

Before Sirius could respond, there was a loud pop and none other than Hestia Jones herself appeared in their flat.

"Hello!" she said, grinning around at them all, before turning to Sirius, "What's the matter with you?"

"Nothing," he muttered, kicking at his cot when Remus attempted to cover up a laugh with a cough.

"Nice trousers," James said, nodding at Hestia, who beamed down at her bright orange pair. Lily pinched James' neck, scolding, but his only reaction was to grin up at her. Remus turned his head to hide his grin, and Peter stuffed his mouth with a chocolate.

"They're _orange_ ," Hestia said, shooting Sirius a pointed look. The boy rolled his eyes, "James liked them, see? I told you there's nothing wrong with orange trousers."

Rather than shoot back with a scathing remark, Sirius remained quiet, and refused to look at her, trying to calm the heat he could feel in his face on account of the marriage discussion they'd just been having. What unfortunate timing for her to show up. Hestia frowned at him.

"Sirius, seriously what-"

"How was your day Hestia?" Lily asked loudly, sparing Sirius, who was steadily turning red.

"It wasn't all that special," Hestia sighed, seating herself, completely distracted. Sirius turned to Lily with a grateful smile, "went into the _Prophet_ this morning-"

"You went to work on a Saturday?" Peter sputtered, and Hestia cocked a brow at him as if he'd gone mad.

"Welcome to the real world, mate," she said, and Peter flushed, "Anyway," she said, turning away from him and back to Lily, "So when I went in, right, I was super pumped to go up to my boss and be all 'um, excuse me sir, but why is the establishment I work for so rubbish and uninformative?', you know, and then wouldn't you know, the second I started to tell him off, and I mean, Lily, you know what I'm like, I wasn't very subtle," she paused, and Lily laughed.

"No Hest, you're definitely not subtle," she giggled, and Hestia shot her a sardonic look as Lily continued to giggle uncontrollably. Grinning, James pulled her down onto his lap, and she continued to giggle, now without the danger of falling over.

"Aye, you're many things, but not that," Sirius snorted, and Hestia turned her hard eyes to him, earning nothing more than a wink in return.

"I take offense to that," she sniffed, and Sirius scoffed.

"You're wearing orange trousers," he quipped, smirking as her skin flushed, "enough said."

"Anyway," Hestia huffed, flipping her hair and turning away from the now grinning Sirius, to face Lily, "I marched in, hair-swinging heals-clicking, the whole shebang-"

"Your hair swings?" Remus snorted, and James guffawed.

"-and wouldn't you know, my boss was already sitting in my cubicle! I know," she said in response to Lily's eyebrow raise, "I was surprised too. So wouldn't you know, I started off all 'boss, this is a shitty system I can no longer tolerate it' but he cut me off and was all 'Hestia you beautiful and smashing little thing-"

"He said what?" Sirius snorted, and Hestia expelled an exasperated sighed, turning to him.

"Do you mind?" she deadpanned, and he smirked at her as Lily laughed. Even Remus managed to crack a smile. Hestia continued, "So it turns out he was actually there to ask me if I'd be willing to write an article for the _Prophet_."

"I thought that was your job?" Remus jeered, and Hestia scoffed.

"Obviously it's my _job_ , but he actually meant an article for the _Prophet_ that actually told the truth," she said, and the rest of them instantly perked up, "Finally got your full attention now, have I?" she grinned, "Thought so, so anyway he was all 'Hestia you're the only one who has openly protested this shitty reporting we've been doing, so I'm trusting you to tell the truth and write about this shitty evil man and how he's ruining everyone's lives', so naturally I was all 'oh my goodness sir this is such an honour blah blah blah'," Hestia rolled her eyes, "you know the useless drivel you have to spout to be respectful nowadays," she added, turning to Lily, who nodded sympathetically, a wide grin on her face.

"So let me get this straight," Sirius said, frowning slightly, "you're going to write an article about You-Know-Who, his cause, the attacks, the Death Eaters, all of it?"

"That's the plan," Hestia said, smacking her lips together, a satisfied twinkle in her eyes, "Impressed?"

"Concerned," James said, when Sirius remained quiet, and Hestia turned to him, her eyes narrowed so ferociously that James readjusted Lily to shield himself some more.

"Why? What's that supposed to mean?"

"That it may be dangerous to be the only one standing up to him so publically," Remus said warily, as Hestia continued to shoot daggers at James.

"It's my _job_ ," Hestia scoffed, crossing her arms, "I mean, isn't that the point of the _Prophet_? To report reality like it is? Not this rubbish they've been producing," she added, picking up the mornings _Prophet_ from where Sirius had left it, "look at this? Three attacks this week, albeit smaller ones than before but attacks nonetheless, and their front page story is about Witch Weekly's favourite wizard and his, oh bloody hell, is this for real? His _cat_? Merlin's beard," she groaned, throwing the newspaper onto the floor, "Do you see what I mean?"

Lily opened her mouth to contribute, but Sirius shook his head, giving her a look that read 'she's not going to listen, don't waste your time', and she closed her mouth.

"Let's just let it be," Sirius said diplomatically, hiding a wince as Hestia turned her angry gaze on him, "when is the article due in?" he asked, and Hestia shrugged.

"Whenever I finish with it really, it's not like they have hundreds of stories lined up," she snorted, her eyes shooting once more to the cat story.

"Well, let us know how it goes, and when it's out," Peter said, sending her a tight smile, and she grinned at him.

"Thank you Peter, I appreciate it," she said, before sending a disappointed look James' way.

"Leave it," Lily murmured, squeezing his arm as he opened his mouth, indignant, to defend himself. He turned to her, disbelief clear on his face, and she shrugged, "Sirius will talk to her later. Let's not turn this into an attack," she added, and James sighed. She pressed a soft kiss to his clenched jaw, before pushing herself off his lap, "How's Gwenog?" she asked, changing the subject, and, as anticipated, Hestia's expression dropped dramatically.

"A giant pain in my damn arse, is what she is," she scoffed, missing the taunting smiles the other three Marauders directed at a very offended Peter, "Keeps whining about this and that. Wants me to get her on the cover of the _Prophet_. Bint, she doesn't realize there are more important things in the world," she sniffed, and Lily laughed, "How's Bancroft doing?"

"She's fine," Lily shrugged, "nothing new to report, really."

"What's this I hear about her new love interest?" Hestia asked, wagging her brows, and Lily rolled her eyes.

"Honestly, Hest, I don't understand where you get half of the information you know," she sighed, and Hestia grinned proudly, "I'm hungry. I feel like getting something from outside, anyone else want in?" she asked, and the boys all replied in the affirmative, "Hest?"

"I'm good Lil, ate a bit before coming over," she smiled, standing up, "But I'll come help you out, leave the boys to their girl talk," she said, winking at Sirius, who rolled his eyes.

"Er, are you sure? I mean, we can go out and get the food," James said, worried eyes following Lily, who was looking through her purse for money.

"No, it's fine," Lily said, turning and catching his worried eyes, "really James, we'll go to a Muggle neighborhood, all right?"

"Fine," he conceded, not looking too happy about it, "but take one of the mirrors," he said, pulling his out of his pocket and handing it to her. Lily shook her head fondly, a small smile on her face as she took it, and placed a gentle kiss against his forehead.

"Love you," she said, and James pulled her down for a quick peck as Hestia went and pecked Sirius hello and goodbye.

"That's _enough_ ," Remus near-yelled, forcing both couples to jump apart, and Peter to start sniggering, "Just leave already, fucks sake," he grumbled, and Lily bit back a smile. Hestia, on the other hand, looked ready to attack him.

"Bye Remus," she said kindly, placing a gentle kiss on his forehead as well, winking at James as Remus deflated and started grumbling at her to 'shut up and go away'.

* * *

"So I decided, once and for all, that it was a good idea," Hestia explained, as she and Lily made their way through, as promised, a Muggle neighborhood, far from Diagon Alley. Lily had spotted a restaurant serving pizza, and they had ordered some to take with them, however they found themselves with twenty minutes to kill, and decided to wander a little around the neighborhood, "I want to publish this article, I think it's important for someone to, once and for all, talk about this war honestly."

"I think you're right," Lily said slowly, nodding, "I just don't want you to discount how dangerous this could be. I mean, there's a difference between reporting facts and what You-Know-Who would consider slander."

"I know that," Hestia sighed, her shoulder slumping slightly as she bit at her lip, "but I think telling the truth is worth the risk. If people are more aware, they'll be more careful. They'll know what to look out for."

"I suppose," Lily sighed, conceding to Hestia's arguments. They'd spent the better part of their gander around the neighborhood debating the pros and cons of Hestia writing this article, and the girl seemed dead set on it, unwilling to budge. Lily supposed this would have to be up to Sirius now, to talk to Hestia. The girl was determined to write about how You-Know-Who was evil, and didn't seem to realize that this could have dire consequences.

"So how's Bancroft doing anyway?" Hestia asked, sending Lily an overly bright grin, "haven't seen her in ages."

"She's good," Lily smiled, "she's been quite giddy the last couple weeks, since she started dating this other trainee. He's really lovely, Scottish," she added, and Hestia let out an excited squeal, "his name's Owen."

"That's so great," she giggled, "that girl really needed someone to loosen her up a bit."

"Hestia!" Lily shrieked, as Hestia snickered happily, looking down at her watch.

"Right, pizza should be ready, come on, I'm sure Sirius has just about eaten one of the others by now," she said, directing Lily back towards the restaurant, giggling all the way.

* * *

"Relax," Lily murmured, as a very agitated James continued to pace up and down their bedroom. It was seven in the morning, over an hour before James and Sirius would apparate to the Ministry for their first day. Sirius was in his own room, presumably getting ready with Hestia, who had stayed over the previous night to help him with his pre-work jitters and fashion sense. James was already dressed, ready to leave at a moments notice. His dark trousers were seamlessly pressed, thanks to a very resourceful Remus Lupin, his button down shirt crisp and unflappable.

"Hestia is right you know, what you wear really does set an impression," he said, letting out a nervous chuckle as he reached his hand up to ruffle his hair, "Can you believe I said that? That she's right? Barmy, she is, wanting to publically take on You-Know-Who for her magic article-"

"James," Lily sighed, and he shook his head quickly, sending her a tight-lipped smile.

"Sorry, off topic, I know, I'm just, I'm so nervous," he said, laughing once more, and Lily smiled slightly as he renewed his frantic pacing, his black shoes (polished spotless, thanks to Lily) slapping against the floor in sharp clicks.

"You'll be fine," she said, smiling gently up at him, and he sighed once more, continuing his pacing, his hands flying up to pull at his hair. When the boy still didn't listen, Lily pushed herself out of bed and positioned herself so that when he next turned, he'd walk right into her.

"Oh! I'm so sorry love, I'm such a ponce, I just-"

"Need to shut up, I know," she said, grinning as she wrapped her arms around his waist, pulling him close, and buried her face in his chest. She felt him ease slightly and wrap one arm around her, the other continuing to play with his hair.

"I'm being annoying, I know," he sighed, and Lily pulled back, smiling up at him.

"Actually, I'm finding this incredibly adorable," she grinned, patting his bum with one of her hands wrapped around him. James let out a bark of laughter.

"Oi, this isn't the time," he said, shaking his head as he grinned down at her, "I'm fully dressed."

"I wasn't coming on to you, idiot," she rolled her eyes, and James sniggered, "I was trying to provide comfort."

"Doing a rotten job of it, you are."

"Well that's nice," Lily scoffed, and he chuckled, "I intended to tell you about how amazing I thought you were, but now I see how it is," she sniffed, and began to unwrap her arms from around him.

"You think I'm amazing?" he asked, his voice small as he looked down at her, and Lily shook her head fondly, her eyes sparkling up at him.

"Of course I do. You're talented, you're fearless, to the point of being reckless, something I really hope they beat out of you," she added with a stern brow, and his lip twitched, "you're the bravest person I know, and you know, with absolute certainty, the difference between right and wrong. You're my hero," she giggled, and James' eyes softened as he continued to gaze down at her, "you're strong, and you protect me, and you'll do anything to make the world a safer place for me. That's how I know you'll be fine in this job, because you've been doing it ever since we started dating. You get to look after the world now, not just me."

"You are my world, Lily," he said softly, and Lily beamed up at him, pushing herself up on her toes and pressing her lips to his.

"You're mine," she breathed into his mouth, and he pressed his lips harder to hers.

"Thank you," he said after a few moments, pressing his forehead to hers, and looking down into her eyes, "I feel better now."

"Is that why I can feel your leg shaking?" she asked dubiously, and he grinned.

"Just because I feel better doesn't mean I'm not nervous," he defended, and Lily giggled, disentangling her limbs from his to begin getting ready herself, "What are you doing?"

"Well we might as well have breakfast before you leave," she said, shooting him a smile as she began to undress, aware of the way his eyes left hers and focused on other parts of her body, "Don't look at me like that," she scolded, "you're all dressed, remember?"

"Well hurry up and do so yourself, otherwise you'll get creases in my trousers," he said, winking, and Lily rolled her eyes as he grinned at his own wit.

"Charming," she snorted, pulling on the last of her Healer robes and turning to face him, arms crossed, "there's no need for such dirty humour at this time in the morning James."

"There's always a need for dirty humour, Lily," he clucked his tongue, winking at her, and Lily snorted.

"I should have left you the way you were, it was far less annoying."

"I love you too Lil."

Before she could open her mouth to answer back, probably to tell him to get a hold of himself as he moved indecently closer to her, a raised voice interrupted the silence.

"Bloody-stop-argh- _no not orange_!"

"Oh dear," Lily giggled, as James roared with laughter, completely uncaring as to whether or not Sirius and Hestia heard him, "That doesn't sound good."

"If he comes out in orange trousers, I'm not showing up with him," he said, and Lily laughed, waving her wand to make the bed as she opened the door, heading for the living room, James on her heels.

"I hope he's got at least that much power in their relationship," she sighed, shaking her head, and James chuckled, ruffling her hair, "I hope he didn't wake up Remus again, that'd be-"

They paused, surprised to find that both Remus and Peters' beds were empty. Before the alarmed could set in, however, there was a rather vicious swear from the kitchen, and they hurried in, only to find the two boys in question, bleary eyed and dressed in their pyjamas, making omelets.

"What's this?" James asked, smirking. Peter jumped violently, the pan he was holding sliding off the hob and clattering onto the counter. Remus turned to narrow his eyes at James.

"There's no need to creep up on us when we're _apparently_ doing a nice thing," he huffed, eyeing Peter, who was now attempting to salvage the omelet, with disdain, " _Someone_ thought it would be very supportive to make you prats breakfast, to send you off," he added through gritted teeth, one of his fisted hands coming up to rub at his eye. Lily bit back a smile.

"That's very sweet of you both," she said, stepping on James' foot as he threatened to burst out laughing, both as a result of Peter's continued stream of curses, and Remus' sleepy irritation.

"Yeah, thanks Pete," James choked, his voice shaking with restrained laughter. Remus sent him a look of pure irritation, and James grinned back at him, "really lovely of you both, honestly, I'm so flattered."

"Go sit down," Lily instructed, pushing James, who was now openly laughing, out of the kitchen, "Pete, here, let me help," she sighed, after watching Peter drop another omelet.

"Thanks Lily," he sighed, letting go of the pan as Lily waved her wand, the egg whisking itself before pouring into the pan, "neither of us is any good at making eggs with magic, so we figured the muggle way couldn't be too much harder."

"We were wrong," Remus muttered, seating himself on the counter moodily, and Lily grinned up at him.

"I'll go sit out with Prongs, I'm knackered," Peter yawned, drudging lazily out of the kitchen as Remus stared at his retreating back with disbelief.

"Bastard, it was _his_ idea to wake up early and cook, and now _he's_ abandoned us to the omelets."

"Selfish of him, really," Lily tutted, leaning against the counter opposite Remus, who huffed in agreement, crossing his arms and leaning back against the cupboards, "You all right?"

"Why?" Remus snapped, a little too quickly. Lily didn't say anything, simply choosing to keep eye contact. Remus sighed, rubbing at his eyes once more, "No, of course I'm fucking not. It should be _my_ first day as well, and he should be making _me_ an omelet too, but instead I'm stuck here reading fucking books in this fucking flat with Peter, who's only here because he's waiting for a job that he delayed only to make _me_ feel like less of a failure," he snorted, shooting an annoyed look in the direction Peter had left, "Don't think I don't know why he was all 'no it's fine I'll start next year', the little shit," he scoffed once more.

"I'm sorry Remus," Lily said after a few moments, and the boy turned to look at her, his eyes full of anguish, "it's not fair."

"No it's not," he stated, wiping at his eyes once more, only this time, Lily was certain it was not to rub away the remnants of sleep, "I don't, I don't know how to _deal_ with this. I did everything right, _everything_. I was a Prefect, got top marks, was in tons of clubs, I wrote a brill application letter, and I took exactly the same subjects as those two," he sniffed, his eyes pink as he opened them again to look at Lily, "there's only _one_ difference."

"It's a rubbish situation, and the people at the ministry are absolutely wretched for letting something like this define you," Lily said, walking forwards and placing a comforting hand on Remus' knee, "but Remus, you're so much more than your condition. I hope you, at least, know that," she said, and Remus lifted his head to look at her.

"It doesn't feel like it sometimes," he murmured, so quietly that had she not been standing so close to him, she wouldn't have heard him.

"I know," she sighed, squeezing his leg, "but know that _I_ know it, and so do those idiots out there," she added, and Remus sighed, nodding his head as he wiped his eyes once more, "Life will turn around Remus, I promise it will," she said, nad Remus shook his head sadly.

"It won't," he choked, "you read those books, you saw what my life becomes," he said.

"Remus, if we succeed at this, that's not what the future is going to look like, I promise," she said, and Remus sniffed, "Remus think of what you could do, if we managed this, think of what you could do for people like you," she said, and he cocked a brow at her, "think of how much the position on werewolves could change, when a werewolf was one of five people who took down You-Know-Who," she whispered, smiling slightly as Remus' eyes flashed, "It won't be quick and it won't be momentous, for now, but it would be something."

"We have to do it," he said after a moment. He felt as if a fire had been lit inside of him, one that had burnt out the second he had graduated; he had a purpose now. Not only the mission they were on, but a personal mission, to succeed for all of the innocent werewolves who suffered as a result of their condition, who were pushed aside, who were discriminated against for something they couldn't control, not something that they had done but something that was done _to_ them.

"And we will," Lily said, nodding her head, before smacking his knee, "now hurry up Remus. Merlin, look at this, you've made me burn the omelet," she huffed, winking at him as she vanished the burnt egg and began another, "Go sit with the others, you're distracting me."

"Thank you Lily," he chuckled, pulling her into a one armed hug. She grinned up at him before ushering him away, glad to see that the smile he gave James as he left the kitchen was more genuine that it had been.

* * *

"You know it's a risky idea, right?" James murmured to Sirius, as the two of them nervously made their way through the Ministry Atrium. They'd already had their wands weighed, been given visitor badges until they got their proper badges from the Auror office, and tackled the visitors entrance telephone box. Safe to say, neither of them was feeling particularly like they belonged there.

Sirius lolled his head back and groaned, "Merlin and Morgana, not this again."

"I'm sorry," James hissed, reaching his hand up to pull at his hair, "I just, I think it's dangerous. If it was Lily I'd probably have thrown a fit by now."

"I know, and I have," Sirius grumbled, tucking his thumbs into his pockets as he looked around the hall, "I told her, but you know what she's like. Won't listen to reason if it slapped her in the face. She's writing that article whether I like it or not, best I can do is make sure not to piss her off so much that she doesn't let me read it before it's published," he said, before sighing, "and she's not wrong Prongs."

"I know," James muttered after a moment, shaking his head, "I'll admit she's doing the right thing, I just don't like that it's her, for your sakes," he said, shooting Sirius a worried glance. The boy in question simply looked back at him and smirked.

"It's almost like you care, Prongs. That's heartwarming, that is," he smirked, and James rolled his eyes.

"I hate this. The world is fucked up," he grumbled, and Sirius guffawed.

"That it is," Sirius chuckled, clapping James on the shoulder as they entered the closest elevator, vacant and waiting, and pressed the button for the floor on which the Auror office was, "Can you believe this is it? We actually made it?"

"Don't speak too soon," James snorted, "Remus was telling me that a few years ago, Moody fired a recruit on the first day because he didn't show enough promise."

"Well, thanks Prongs, I feel much better now," Sirius grumbled, and James snorted in agreement as they finally arrived at the right floor. As the doors opened, they found themselves facing a crowd of about thirty people, witches and wizards who looked about their age, all with the same nervous expression masking their faces, "this doesn't help," he added, eyeing all the new recruits, their competition, with a look of disgust.

"It's a good sign, at least not everyone's watching this war from the sidelines," James murmured, and Sirius rolled his eyes, placing his hand on the back of James' neck and guiding him forwards into the throng of their new classmates.

"That's all well and good mate, rainbows and unicorns shitting flowers and all that, but not all of us actually pass," Sirius scoffed, sneering at a group of pompous looking boys.

"Stop it," James chuckled, ruffling his hair as one of the boys frowned at Sirius, "not really smart, is it, to make enemies before we've even started."

"I don't know, I always found I worked best knowing someone in the room was afraid of me," Sirius shrugged, and James rolled his eyes as the ponce smirked to himself, "Ah, I miss Snivellus."

"Don't say things like that, I'll be sick," James shuddered, and Sirius barked a laugh.

As he opened his mouth to say something else, a loud noise caused them all to jump, a few even letting out frightened yelps. They turned as one in the direction the noise had come from. Standing there, wand held high, was Alastar Moody.

"Rule number one, CONSTANT VIGILANCE!"

"Oh, here we go," Sirius groaned.

* * *

 **Here you have it! It's been a while, I'm afraid. A lot has been happening. But hopefully the next few chapters, at least, will come up at a speedy(er) pace!**

 **Watch this space!**


	12. Wait

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the rights to any part of the Harry Potter franchise, and I am not J.K. Rowling.**

* * *

"Lunch time," Moody growled, eyeing the room disdainfully, before turning on his heel and leaving. The group of trainee Aurors gaped, following him out with their eyes, wands still aloft. They'd been dueling each other for hours; Moody had decided their first test would be a war. They'd been told to fight each other, and that the first five to be stunned or otherwise incapacitated would be used as test dummies for the week, to practice on. From the moment it had been announced, there had been mayhem. Sirius had grabbed James by the sleeve, and, as a team, they had managed to remain 'alive' throughout the test. Sirius was limping, the result of an aggressive trip jinx, and James sported a few cuts on his face and arms from curses others had shot. The scenario had gotten out of hand fairly quickly, the nerves of a first day of work having taken over, urging some trainees to fight dirty to prove their superiority. Moody hadn't stopped anyone from crossing the line, having declared, after one of the female trainees had had to be escorted out as a result of a broken nose, that war was dirty, and they may as well get used to the idea now.

" _Lunch_? I thought it'd have been dinner by now," Sirius near-whined, limping over to the closest wall and dropping down onto the floor, taking in deep heaving breaths.

"I'm starting to rethink my career choice," James grumbled irritably, reaching up to rustle his hair, hissing as he accidentally stretched a particularly awful gash on his bicep, "and my fucking shirt is ruined."

Sirius snorted and rolled his eyes, looking down at his own clothing, which had rips and tatters in various places. Looking around, he noticed that his fellow trainees were also tending to their clothing, most of them grimacing. They had all chosen to dress smart for their first day; it was clear that wasn't a mistake any of them would be making again.

"How many more weeks of training do we have?" Sirius asked, and James rolled his eyes, letting out a humourless laugh.

"Too bloody many," James said, and Sirius smirked up at him.

"We make a good team mate."

"Only realizing that now, are you?" James asked, cocking a brow at Sirius, who rolled his eyes.

"Take it personally, why don't you."

"Well what the fuck was that supposed to mean?"

"You make a good team," a voice growled to their left, and they turned, alarmed, to see Moody standing beside them, "Quick. Lots of potential," he nodded. The two continued to gape at him, "Bit of training up and you'll be good to put in the field."

"Er, thanks," James said awkwardly, after a few moments of silence. Sirius was still gaping at Moody, obviously trying to figure out how he had so suddenly appeared. Moody's expression shifted, and he gave James a look of disgust.

"It wasn't a compliment boy. You'll find I don't give a lot of those," he said in his raspy voice.

"Er, I'm, yeah, sorry," James stammered, curling his hand into a fist to stop it from flying up into his hair. Moody rolled his eyes and looked down at Sirius swollen ankle, then his eyes flickered to James' cuts.

"Fiancée of yours is a Healer, no?" Moody growled, and James nodded quickly, "Good, you'll be needing her," he said, before turning and walking off, terrifying another young group of trainees as he snuck up on them.

"Well that's fucking ominous," Sirius snorted, as James shuddered, shaking his head to clear it, "Very smooth of you, by the way, Prongs."

"Fuck off Padfoot, I didn't see you contributing," James snorted, and Sirius smirked.

"Help me up will you?" Sirius asked, reaching his hand up. James sighed and pulled the boy to his feet, holding him steady as he wobbled on his ankle, " _Fuck_ that bites," Sirius grumbled, looking down at his ankle, "You know a healing spell for it? Don't reckon I can last the whole day on it," he said, wincing as he attempted to put weight on it, "Unless you piggy back me for the next battle," Sirius winked, and James rolled his eyes.

"I do know a spell, but I don't reckon I can do it properly," he said, and Sirius smirked.

"Well, I know someone who can."

"We can't just go running to her now," James scoffed, shaking his head as he helped Sirius out of the training hall, "We're at work."

"We're on lunch break," Sirius said, wincing once more as he accidentally placed too much weight on it.

"I'm sure there are some Healers here in the Ministry. I doubt the Auror department apparates to Mungos every time they're injured," James reasoned, searching their surroundings, presumably for a large sign that would point them to a Healing station or something of the sort.

"They don't," Sirius snorted, shaking his head, "Didn't you read the bloody brochure they handed us in Seventh Year? Aurors have to go through their own Healing training, so they can help themselves in cases like ours, when they have minor injuries," he said, and James smirked at him.

"I didn't know you could read."

"Oh fuck off Prongs," Sirius snorted, shoving the now snickering James, "Since we haven't had our bloody Healing training yet, I'm going to have to insist on going to see Lily."

"Oh, all right," James sighed, shaking his head, "I just hope we don't get in trouble for leaving."

"It's _lunch_ James, and we'll come back the second she's healed us," Sirius said, rolling his eyes as James looked around, worriedly, "promise."

"Oh all right, let's go."

* * *

Lily jumped as a tray slammed onto the table across from her.

"This has been, without a doubt, the worst day ever," Alma declared, as she in turn slammed herself down onto the seat across from Lily.

"That's quite a declaration," Lily chuckled, placing her palm on her chest to calm her heart rate. She'd been lost in her head, peeling her orange, and the slam of the tray had terrified her.

"You'd understand if you'd been through _half_ of what I've already dealt with today," Alma huffed, picking up her wrap and taking a gargantuan bite out of it.

"Please don't tell me anything until you've swallowed," Lily giggled, wrinkling her nose in disgust as Alma took another large bite, moaning in satisfaction as she ate.

"I've heard that before," Alma said after a few moments, winking, and Lily rolled her eyes, dropping her head to the table with a groan, "I know, I'm the queen of sexual jokes. Bow down to me," she said, and Lily rolled her eyes.

"I'm insulted I wasn't invited to the coronation," Lily sniffed, and Alma smirked.

"Been crowned since birth, I'm afraid," she snickered, and Lily shot her a disgusted look, the corners of her mouth twitching.

"You make me sick. Can you even _imagine_? A child making an innuendo?" Lily said, her face so obviously scandalized that Alma couldn't help but throw her head back and laugh.

"You're so fucking adorable, I can't handle it," Alma giggled, and Lily rolled her eyes, flushing, as she ate a segment of her orange.

"It's called being decent," Lily defended, but Alma simply laughed once more.

"Suppose you have to be, especially with Hestia practically living with you now," she added with a smirk, and Lily rolled her eyes.

"She doesn't _live_ with us," Lily insisted, as Alma continued to snicker, "Merlin, I think I'd move out," Lily added, and Alma grinned.

"That bad, eh?"

"No, I mean, she's perfectly lovely," Lily said quickly, "but I mean, well-"

"For Merlins sakes, spit it out Evans," Alma said, wagging her brows, and Lily rolled her eyes once more.

"You're truly the most disgusting person I've ever met," Lily laughed, and Alma grinned proudly.

"Given the lot you live with, I take that as the biggest compliment ever," she giggled, and Lily smirked, "You were saying?"

"I just don't need to hear them during their- er- shenanigans," Lily said, and Alma burst out laughing.

"How loud?" she asked, and Lily rolled her eyes.

"Honestly, Alma, it's as if they're doing it in bed next to me."

"I told you, you live in a brothel," Alma tutted, and Lily laughed, throwing her abandoned peel at the girl, who squealed and pushed it away from her, "Merlin's Pants Lily, you know I hate oranges."

"Hestia was trying to get Sirius to wear orange trousers," Lily giggled, and Alma snorted.

"Did she manage it?"

"Unfortunately not, that would've been spectacular," Lily giggled, and Alma laughed along with her, "how's Owen?"

"Fine," Alma shrugged, looking around as she took a sip of her drink, "he said he'd join us for lunch, actually."

"Have you introduced him to your mum yet?" Lily asked, grinning down into her lap as Alma, predictably, turned to her with a dark expression marring her pretty face.

"She knows nothing about him," she said, "She'd have wedding invitations printed tomorrow, she's so fucking embarrassing," she added, and Lily grinned. Alma picked up her fork and pointed it at Lily, "If you tell her a bloody _thing_ , Evans-"

"How could I possibly tell your mum about your secret relationship?" Lily squeaked, leaning back as Alma poked the fork further towards her, "I don't even know your mum."

"And let's keep it that way," she said darkly, and Lily laughed.

"Alma, I think you're overreacting-"

"That's nothing new," a deep voice said from behind Lily. She didn't need to turn to see who it was; the second he spoke, Alma's face brightened and she beamed up at him dreamily, "All right Lily?"

"Fine," Lily said, as Owen slid into place on the bench beside Alma, "How are you?"

"All right, been charting for three days now," he said, stretching out the fingers on his right hand, and Lily grimaced, "Bloody over it, to be honest."

"Amen," Alma piped in, and Lily rolled her eyes as Owen chuckled, pressing a kiss to Alma's temple, "Lily, I think you're needed elsewhere," she said suddenly, and Lily frowned at her. Alma pointed her fork behind them, and Lily turned to see James, covered in cuts, waving her over.

"Bye," she said quickly, to Alma and Owen, who waved her away, before hurrying over to James, "What's the matter? What are you doing here? _Merlin_ , what happened to you?" she squeaked, eyes raking over his handsome face, tracing the cut on his left cheek, and flitting down to the cuts scattered on his arms, "Is everyone okay? Was there another attack?"

"Hold your Hippogriffs, Lil," James chuckled, placing his hands on her shoulders to calm her, "Turns out Auror training is a tad more violent than we anticipated," he said, wincing as Lily gently traced the cut on his cheek.

"We?" she asked, and James nodded, grimacing.

"Sirius couldn't make it up the stairs," he said, and Lily's jaw dropped, "His ankle's pretty badly fucked."

"How?" Lily demanded, pulling out her wand and healing the scrapes on his arms. He let out a sigh of relief as the stinging from the cuts stopped, "What the hell have you been doing?"

"Moody decided it would be extremely smart to test us. We've basically been in a war since we got there this morning," he muttered irritably, admiring her look of concentration as she murmured under her breath, her eyes focused on the gash on his cheek, "we got there, and Moody was all 'Rule one, Constant Vigilance. Rule two, don't kill anyone. Now, fight.'" James snorted, and rolled his eyes as Lily's eyes shifted from his now-healed cheek to his, wide with surprise.

"That's mad," she said, shaking her head and grabbing his hand, leading him down the stairs to the lobby. James chuckled in agreement.

"It was, when everyone just continued to look at him like he was speaking Mermish he got annoyed and started shooting jinxes, so we'd all have to defend, then we sort of got the message," James said, and Lily shook her head.

"But why?"

"Why?" James chuckled, squeezing her hand, " _Why_? Because we're in the middle of a war, Evans."

"Oh, so sorry," Lily rolled her eyes, as James continued to smirk, "I didn't think I'd have to worry about you _in_ the office as well."

"Well apparently you're in for a head full of gray hair, love."

"Lovely," Lily sighed, and James chuckled once more. They'd made it to the bottom of the stairs, and he took charge, dragging her over to where Sirius was sitting slouched in a waiting room chair, a frown marring his striking face, his bottom lip jutted out in a pout, "Don't you look cheerful?" Lily giggled as greeting, and he turned to her, a sardonic expression on his face.

"You look healed," he said to James, sending Lily a pointed look. She rolled her eyes and crouched down to examine his swollen ankle, "Bloody fucking favouritism, this is."

"Or simply just the fact that he came up to see me. All that effort had to be rewarded, no?" Lily quipped, grinning up at Sirius from her crouched position. He stuck his tongue out at her.

"Just heal my bloody ankle, will you? I'm fucking dying."

"You're fine," Lily chuckled, healing his ankle nonetheless, "It may be a bit awkward to walk on for a few hours," she warned, and he shrugged, allowing James to help him onto his feet. He winced slightly as he placed weight on the foot.

"Yeah, you're right, but it doesn't hurt," he said, shooting her a grin, "thanks mate."

"We should probably get going," James said, looking down at his watch, and Sirius rolled his eyes at Lily.

"He's been in a right state since I suggested we come here. Was all 'oh no what if they find out we left', 'we're going to get in trouble'," Sirius mimicked, and James flushed.

"Well you'd better get back then," Lily giggled, grinning adoringly at James, who reached up to fiddle with his hair, "and fix your clothes will you? You look a mess, both of you."

"You sound like my mum," James muttered, and Lily smirked as Sirius sniggered.

"Well, you'll have both her and Hestia to answer to if you come back with your clothes in tatters," Lily said, clucking her tongue in amusement as Sirius groaned, slapping his palm to his forehead.

"I forgot about _her_ , for fucks sake. Prongs, remind me to sew up my clothing will you?"

"See you later, have your wand ready, who knows what state we'll be in when we return," James said, and Lily rolled her eyes.

"Try not to get injured or otherwise maimed," she sighed, and Sirius saluted, "I may miss you a little bit. Perhaps," she said with a grin. James sent a cheeky wink her way, before the two of them exited the building. She turned around, to see Alma and Owen descending the stairs, hand-in-hand, heading straight for her.

"All good?" Alma asked.

"We assumed there'd been an attack, so we came to see if we could help," Owen added nonchalantly. Lily bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself from snapping back at him. This was the thing Lily had a hard time accepting about Owen, the fact that he was always so casual about attacks, and seemed unaffected when his patients died. She'd never voiced her irritation to Alma, however. She figured it wasn't any of her business to be getting involved in their relationship.

"And you were clearly in quite a rush," she said sardonically, and Alma laughed.

"I was sure you could handle it," she winked, and Lily shook her head fondly.

"No, no attacks, apparently Auror training is much more intense than expected," Lily chuckled, and Alma frowned.

"I didn't know they were in Auror training," she said, her eyes almost accusatory as they bored into Lily.

"Today's their first day," Lily shrugged, and Alma winced.

"All that damage on the first day," she let out a low whistle, "Glad I didn't choose that career."

"Don't think your pretty face would have been able to take all the cuts?" Owen teased. Alma shot him an amused look before turning back to Lily.

"Congratulate them for me, will you?" she said, before adding, "It's awful good of them to take arms, especially nowadays," she finished with a sigh, her eyes flickering over to the emergency ward, where they'd spent too many of their days in the recent past.

"I'll let Sirius know you're so proud of him," Lily said, and Alma rolled her eyes as Lily giggled.

"You'll do no such thing. I honestly hate that there's something I have to give him credit for," she said with a snort, and Lily shook her head fondly as they all turned towards the library to finish charting, "life was much easier when he was just the sex-crazed cheesy-flirting stalker who liked Hestia," she added, and Lily laughed.

"And you know he's sex-crazed because?" Owen asked, eyebrow cocked, and Alma's face contorted with disgust as Lily succumbed to a fit of giggles.

"Darling, if you _ever_ make such an insinuation again, I swear to Merlin and all of his disciples that I'll make sure you don't live to insinuate another day," she said sternly, and Owen smirked.

"I'll make sure to keep Merlin and his disciples uninformed, then," he said, and Alma rolled her eyes, shoving him with her shoulder as she fought a smile.

* * *

"I told you," Sirius sniggered, as he and James walked back up to the Auror office after enjoying a fulfilling lunch, "we had time to have our bodies fixed, and still managed to eat before we had to get back," he added, sniggering still, and James rolled his eyes.

"Excuse me for not wanting to get fired on my first day."

"Well, the day is still young," Sirius said, and James groaned.

"If we have to fight in another makeshift war-"

"You'll fight, because you may be the most competitive person I know," Sirius said, rolling his eyes.

" _May_ be? Who tops me?" James snorted, and Sirius smirked.

"Lily."

"Ah, fair," James chuckled as his hand went up to rearrange his hair once more, "Don't tell her I said that."

"Same," Sirius sniggered, clapping James on the shoulder as they walked through the Auror office and into the training hall. Sirius let out a sigh of relief as he saw it was now filled with desks.

"Don't get your hopes up, they could be obstacles," James said, shifty eyes flickering around the hall, looking for clues, "or it could be a scenario!"

"Oh yes, a war during Hogwarts exams," Sirius scoffed, throwing himself into a seat, James lowering himself next to him. By this point, most of the trainees had already seated themselves, and were looking around nervously. James felt his stomach erupt in nerves as he realized that he and Sirius were the only two who were fully healed after this morning.

"Do you think we'll get in trouble for getting healed?" James whispered to Sirius, who frowned at him.

"Do you hear yourself?"

James snorted, "I meant, do you think it's one of Moody's bizarre lessons?" James clarified, rolling his eyes as Sirius' suddenly widened, and he looked around, alarmed.

"Fuck, I hope not," Sirius shuddered, eyeing the row of 'test dummies', all of whom looked terrified, "Wouldn't want to end up there."

"To think, becoming an Auror was supposed to make us less paranoid," James mused, and Sirius snorted, pushing his dark locks out of his eyes.

"I don't know about you mate, but I don't think I've ever been so suspicious of every fucking thing," Sirius sniggered, and James smirked back at him.

"Constant Vigilance," he mimicked, and Sirius snorted, "We were just suspicious about desks, mate. I think this is rock bottom," James quipped, and the two cackled madly.

"LUNCH TIME'S OVER," Moody's voice boomed, as the man, once more suddenly appeared, this time at the front of the classroom. He was glaring around at the room full of trainees, all of whom looked just about ready to soil themselves, "When you're in this room, you're not the shallow sex-manic children I know you are," he growled, and both James and Sirius exchanged an amused look, "You are our future Aurors."

His eyes travelled around once more, before landing on Sirius, who had chosen the wrong moment to stretch, "You there," he said, pointing his cane. Sirius' eyes widened in alarm as the whole room seemed to turn to gaze at him, "your ankle?"

"Good as new, sir," Sirius croaked, the nerves exploding once more in the pit of his stomach as Moody began to clunk his way, heading towards Sirius between desks.

"Healed it, did you?"

"Er, no sir, I mean," Sirius cleared his throat, shooting a nervous look at James, "it is healed now, but I asked a friend to do it."

"This one?" Moody asked, jabbing his cane at James. He accidentally got James in the shoulder, and James resisted the urge to whine like a baby and grip at it. He was certain there'd be a bruise waiting for him the next time he chose to take a look.

"Um, no sir," Sirius said in a small voice. When Moody continued to look at him, Sirius cleared his throat once more, "his fiancée, she's a Healer at St. Mungos."

Moody was quiet for a long while, his eyes flickering over James' newly healed face as well, before turning away and heading towards the front of the classroom.

"We're fucked," Sirius breathed, and James nodded, crossing his arms and biting his cheek in anticipation. He subtly rubbed his shoulder where Moody had jabbed it, wincing slightly. When Moody turned once more, however, he looked impressed. Sirius nearly wept with relief.

"Resourceful," he nodded appreciatively, eyes sliding over the other trainees, most of whom were still sporting split lips and various other injuries. James and Sirius subtly exchanged a high-five, "the lot of you, you went over an hour without thinking to heal yourselves?" he growled, spitting at the floor.

"I hope he thinks to _Scourgify_ ," James murmured, and Sirius grimaced in disgust, his eyes zeroing in on where Moody had spit.

"Pathetic," Moody growled, continuing his rant as he eyed the others, "You're Aurors now. If you're not in top shape, who's going to fight the other side, eh?" he demanded, looking around, daring someone to contradict him. As far as James could see, nobody wanted to meet his eyes, "You there," Moody said, pointing at someone too far ahead for James and Sirius to make out, "know any Healing magic?"

"No sir," the girl said in a small voice.

"Are you in an office full of people who could have helped you?"

The girl hesitated. Sirius grimaced, "Um, yes sir," she said in a small voice. Moody gave her a hard look, before turning away.

"There is no excuse for any of you not to be fully healed right now," Moody growled, glaring around the room, "but nevertheless, it's time you lot learned some basic Healing Spells," he said, sounding reluctant to be helping them, "those of you with the brains enough to have healed yourselves," he said, his eyes flashing to James and Sirius, who fought back proud smirks, "pay attention, you can't be running to fiancées to help you all the time," he said.

Sirius and James gaped as a few other trainees hid snickers.

"Guess there's no winning," James muttered and Sirius smirked.

"If there was, we would be, so it's okay."

"Thank Merlin for Lily."

* * *

"That is easily the most frightened I've ever been," Sirius shuddered, as he and James left the Ministry that evening, "that man is too scary. I can't believe people actually choose to spend time with him," he shuddered once more, and James chuckled. They'd been holed up in the training hall for hours, learning what Moody called 'basic healing magic', but what was, in reality, the most complex magic they had ever done. More than that, however, was the constant terror of Moody. He kept materializing out of nowhere, terrifying various people as they were mid conversation, and if by chance anyone did a spell properly, he'd slap them with an insult anyway.

"Yeah, I see what he meant about not giving out compliments," James snorted, stretching his right arm forwards, "I can't even believe Lily, though," James grumbled, rolling his right wrist around, stretching it out, "How the fuck does she do this all day every day?"

"Turns out there's a reason she was top of our class," Sirius snorted, and James grinned, "Complete nutter, who the fuck volunteers to do such complex magic all the time."

"And here I thought healing our cuts was no big deal," James chuckled, tracing the line on his cheek where the cut had been, "She does them so easily."

"Sadly, I think that's because what she sees every day is much worse than cuts," Sirius said, and James' expression hardened, "Is she okay, having seen all those things?"

"She's doing her best," James sighed, shaking his head as he shoved his hands in his pockets, "it's gotten easier for her, I think. She used to cry after every attack, now she only really gets emotional if she's worked on a particularly difficult case," he added, and Sirius nodded, biting the inside of his cheek.

"Suppose that's the way of it," he said, and James shrugged, "I don't care how good we get at this by the way," Sirius said after a moment, "I'm still running to Lily."

* * *

"Alma?" Lily said tentatively, approaching the brunette. The girl was sitting on the bench beside her locker, her head in her hands.

"What?"

"Are you, um, all right?"

"Yes, why?" Alma grumbled, and Lily shrugged, despite the fact that Alma clearly couldn't see what she was doing.

"You just looked out of it, I suppose," Lily hummed, opening up her own locker and grabbing her purse.

"I'm fine," Alma sighed, lifting her head and turning to look at Lily, "just knackered. Owen stayed over last night and-"

"I don't need to know!" Lily squeaked, slamming her locker door with a little too much force, resulting in a loud 'bang'.

"Oh calm your tits, honestly," Alma chuckled, her cheeks tinged pink, "Even if that was the case, it's not something I'd openly discuss, I mean, Merlins pants can you even imagine? Who could possibly so brazen to bring it up in normal conversation?"

"I'll give you three guesses," Lily deadpanned, and Alma laughed.

"Ah Hestia Jones, I do miss her nonsense," Alma grinned, pulling her hair out of the braid it had been in all day, and running her fingers through the strands to separate it out, "Let's do drinks someday. You can obviously be there to keep us all decent," she added with a wink, and Lily rolled her eyes, lips twitching up at the sides as she sat down beside the girl.

"I'll ask her," she sighed, before groaning and dropping her forehead to her knees, "I'm so _tired_."

"What did you have today?"

"Lots of charting, as usual. This random Healer pulled me in on a case, because he couldn't find his own trainee," Lily snorted, and Alma chuckled, "turns out this one works a lot with internal organs," Lily shuddered, and Alma made retching noise, "I wasn't exactly prepared."

"Did you actually _see_ one?" Alma asked, simultaneously disgusted and fascinated. Lily grimaced once more, and Alma let out a low whistle, "that's proper intense."

"Tell me about it," Lily groaned once more, closing her eyes, "the patient had already died, he was inspecting the organs to see what kind of damage whatever curse the patient had been hit with had done."

Alma gagged, "So you lot were basically poking around _inside_ a corpse?"

"Don't remind me," Lily whined, hiding her face in her hands, and Alma chuckled, rubbing her back soothingly.

"We're far too squeamish to be Healers, no?"

"I can _Heal_ , what I _can't_ do is spend an hour with my hands _inside_ a _dead body_ , moving the bloody organs around, and I mean bloody _literally_ here," Lily added, and Alma smirked, "looking for all the scarring."

"Was it bad though? Like, did you find the damage?"

"Yeah," Lily grimaced, reaching up to pull her own hair out of the ponytail she'd put it up in, which was starting to give her a headache, "there was some charring in there, must have been another variation of that new burning curse the Death Eaters have started playing with."

Alma shuddered once more, shaking out her now-loose hair, "These people make me sick," she stated, and Lily snorted in agreement, massaging her temples.

"What did you do today?"

"Charting, forever," Alma sniffed, and Lily grinned, "then obviously lunch with you, which was an unnecessarily dramatic affair, if I may say so," she said, shooting Lily a pointed look, and Lily smirked, "Do me a favour, will you? Ask your men not to come barging in injured and bloody while I'm trying to eat, will you? I only get so much down time."

"I'll let them know how inconsiderate they were," Lily laughed, and Alma giggled, shaking her head, before sighing.

"Sort of comforting though," she mused, and Lily cocked a brow at her, "Knowing other people are suffering in their professions as well."

"Aren't you a kind soul?" Lily snorted, and Alma rolled her eyes, tugging on a strand of Lily's hair as the redhead giggled.

"Shut up, you know what I mean," she said, and Lily shook her head, smiling, "It's just hard, nowadays, to get myself out of bed to face another day of tragedy, you know? At least I know there are others out there doing the same, who aren't stuck in this building," she said, and Lily's face softened.

"I see what you mean, there's comfort in knowing you're not alone," she said, and Alma shrugged.

"Even if I have to find comfort in Sirius fucking Black."

"Oh Alma," Lily laughed, shaking her head as Alma smirked, "let it go, it was _one time_."

"I'm sorry, but did you notice the only part of me he paid any attention to in those zero point two seconds he actually bothered to acknowledge my existence was my bust?" she squawked indignantly, and Lily laughed.

"At least you know they're not small," she suggested, and Alma shot her a sardonic look.

"Oh, look at that, a silver lining," Alma deadpanned, and Lily laughed, "Honestly though, I think I may have to hate him a little less now," she sighed, and Lily frowned at her, "I genuinely admire that he, and James, decided to spend their lives fighting the bad guys."

"Yeah, me too," Lily said, grinning down into her lap. Alma turned to look at her and rolled her eyes.

"I fee the need to leave, I can sense how indecent your thoughts are right now," she snorted, and Lily shrieked indignantly, swatting the sniggering Alma in the arm

"You ruined a beautiful moment, thank you very much," Lily sniffed. None to her surprise, the girl continued to laugh.

"It was hardly a beautiful moment."

"It would have been if you'd shut up a little bit longer," Lily pouted, and Alma rolled her eyes, smirking.

"Go on Evans, why was it so beautiful?"

"Because I was going to ask you to come to my wedding," Lily said, smirking as Alma's eyes bugged, "preferably as a bridesmaid, but I'll have you any other way."

"Sounds dirty," Alma said, smirking, and Lily rolled her eyes, turning away from the girl as she started to cackle, "I'd be honoured," she said, grinning as she grabbed Lily's hand and gave it a squeeze, "To be a bridesmaid and to be in attendance, for the record," she said, and Lily grinned.

"Really?" she breathed, beaming widely at the girl. Alma blushed and shoved Lily lightly.

"Fucking obviously, are you daft?" she said, and Lily grinned, pulling her friend into a hug, "Get off me," Alma laughed, hugging Lily briefly. The redhead continued to beam, "when is it? I've got to clear my incredibly busy schedule," she said, and Lily rolled her eyes.

"I'll let you know when I know," she said, and Alma cocked a brow. Lily took it as her cue to answer the unspoken question, "We tried sorting it all out with James' mum this weekend, but we couldn't without my parents, so James and I've got to sit through _another_ endless session of wedding planning."

"Don't sound so excited about it," Alma snorted, grinning at Lily's put out expression, "I mean, it's only your wedding."

" _You_ spend hours talking about clothing and locations and flowers, and Merlin knows what else, I think I may have fallen asleep with my eyes open at one point," Lily grumbled, and Alma laughed.

"Bet James was real chuffed you were so excited about your upcoming nuptials."

"Actually, I played it like I'd had a brilliant time," Lily shrugged, grinning devilishly at Alma, "he looked so put out, the poor thing."

Alma snorted, rolling her eyes as she fought a smile, "Poor chap, I hope he knows how vindictive you really are."

"I hide it well," Lily shrugged, beaming, and Alma shook her head, chuckling.

"You're getting that look about you now, the one you get when you're too in love," Alma cringed, and Lily laughed, "Go on, leave," she snorted, standing up and flapping her arms at Lily, "go swoon over your boyfriend-"

"Fiancé," Lily corrected, and Alma rolled her eyes, "you know, for a bridesmaid, you don't sound appropriately supportive or excited-"

"Your _fiancé_ then. And shut your face, Evans, I'm well excited. I'll be there, looking an appropriate level of fabulous; so hot everyone's fawning over me, but not so hot that they're fawning over me more than you," she said with a wink, and Lily rolled her eyes, smirking, "Now _go on_. Enjoy your games of master manipulation and your swooning. I'll go back to my empty flat by my lonesome."

"What, no guests tonight?" Lily teased. Rather than come back at Lily with a witty innuendo, Alma remained uncharacteristically quiet, "er, I'm sorry, I didn't mean anything-"

"No, it's not, it's not that," Alma said, biting her lip and avoiding eye contact, "I just, ugh," she groaned, sitting back down. When she didn't say anything for a few moments, Lily rubbed her back comfortingly.

"What's the matter?"

"Nothings _wrong_ ," Alma whined, turning to look at Lily, who was taken aback to see her friend, for the first time, with a vulnerable expression o her face, "I just, I can't-"

"Take your time. Just breathe," Lily said gently, continuing to rub soothing circles on the girls back, "You don't have to-"

"I haven't slept with him!"

"Well there's no need to shout," Lily said, after a moments' alarmed silence, where she fought back her surprise, and Alma took a few calming breaths.

"Sorry, I just, I haven't talked about this with anyone, not even him, I just, I don't know _why_ I'm so scared to do it with him. I've done it before, and Merlin knows I've never been a very shy girl, you know, sexually-"

"Yes, I got that impression," Lily chuckled, and Alma stuck her tongue out at her. Lily laughed, putting her other arm around Alma and hugging the brunette. After a moment, she felt the other girls' arms wind around her waist, reciprocating her hug, "There's no rush, you know. There's not a definitive rulebook that tells you when you're supposed to sleep with someone."

"It's not _that_ ," Alma protested, shaking her head, her voice muffled against Lily's shoulder, "It's not that I don't want to do it. I mean, _you_ know how mad I am about him," she said, and Lily nodded, stroking Alma's hair as the girl continued to speak, "I don't know, I just feel like it needs to be special, like it needs to be the right time. And what if I don't enjoy it? What if _he_ doesn't? Then what?"

"I know how you feel," Lily murmured, smiling slightly as she got lost in the first time she and James had been intimate, back in the library while they'd been reading the first book, "it was like that with James. I was mortified, I just about wanted to die of embarrassment and terror-"

" _Exactly_ "

"But," Lily said, cutting off what no doubt would have been a rant from Alma discussing how it was probably a sign or something, "I don't know how to explain it. When I took a moment to look at him, and I mean, you know, properly look at him-"

"What, you mean down at his-"

" _No!_ " Lily squeaked, shoving the now giggling Alma away from her, "Holy Hippogriffs, I was _trying_ to be a good friend, you know."

"I'm sorry," Alma wheezed, shaking her head as she tried to calm her laughter, "I just couldn't resist."

"I'm leaving," Lily sniffed, turning her nose at up at Alma, whose face instantly fell.

"No! No please, seriously, I need your help," she said, grabbing onto Lily's hands, and the redhead rolled her eyes, her cheeks flushed a dark red as she discussed what was such a special moment for her, "What happened? When you looked at him? What changed?"

"I don't know," Lily murmured, smiling dreamily as she lost herself in the memory once more; James' dark eyes, his hesitant hands lingering an inch away from her waist, terrified he'd make the wrong move and that she'd leave, "it was the first time I saw him so vulnerable," she said quietly, looking down at her fingers, "I mean, I'd seen him upset before, but I'd never seen James like that. And I was certain, in that moment, that he'd never make me do anything I didn't want to. That if I said no, he'd stop, even though he clearly didn't want to," she said, and Alma chuckled, "I felt safe with him," Lily said, grinning back at Alma.

"Well, that's all well and good," Alma said after a moment of mindless beaming, "But that doesn't really help me."

"It wasn't supposed to," Lily snorted, shaking her head, "All I'm saying is that it's okay to be scared, and that if it's right, it'll feel right."

"And if it doesn't?"

"Then don't do it," Lily shrugged, and Alma rolled her eyes as her friend beamed cheekily back at her.

"That sounds too easy."

"It really is, though," Lily said, and Alma sighed.

"I suppose you're right, I'll just, I'll see what happens, and go from there," she said, and Lily smiled, "I'm just so scared of getting hurt."

"I know," Lily sighed, "but if you don't try you'll never know."

"You're right," Alma nodded, standing up once more and grabbing her purse, "I'm going to go find Owen, and ask him if he wants to come over again. And if he does, well, if the moment presents itself, I'll see how I feel and go from there."

Lily grinned, standing up and facing her friend, "Sounds like a plan to me."

* * *

"You're cheerful," Remus grumbled from his sickbed, as Lily apparated into the flat, humming to herself as she set her bag down on the table and ruffled his hair.

"You sound none too pleased about my euphoria," she said, clucking her tongue, and Remus glared up at her from where he was lying down, the whites of his eyes red, as if he'd been crying, another side effect of an approaching full moon, "That's not very 'best mate' of you."

"You're annoying today," Remus whined, and Lily grinned down at him, reaching down and gently running her fingers through his hair.

"I suppose you're allowed to be crotchety today," she sighed, her smile becoming more nurturing as she sat down on the edge of his bed, "How are you feeling?"

"The usual," Remus said, closing his eyes with a sigh, "sore throat, sore limbs, my eyes are fucking burning- I think they might be on fire- and the ever present pounding head."

"Well, I can assure you your eyes are not on fire," she said with a grin, and Remus stuck his tongue out at her. She pulled out her wand and placed it on Remus' forehead, "Close your eyes, I looked up a spell at work to help your head."

"Most Healing spells won't work on me," he muttered, closing his eyes nonetheless.

"Which is why I looked in the lycanthropy section, you turd," she tutted, and Remus grinned, "A little credit, if you please." She murmured an incantation under her breath, and watched a little stream of blue light shot into Remus' head. Her eyes shot back down to his face, and she expelled a breath of relief as she saw that his face had relaxed for the first time in days, "I think it should work for a few hours at least, and I can do it as much as you need."

"I think I'm in love with you," Remus groaned, opening his eyes, which were now a gentle pink rather than stark red, and looking up at her, "Think Prongs will let me marry you?"

"I don't think _James_ has the deciding vote on who I marry, thank you very much," she sniffed, and Remus guffawed as she stood up and tucked her wand back into her waistband.

"I'm so sorry. Will you marry me Lily?"

"Excuse me?" an amused voice said from the doorway, and they turned to see James walk in, Sirius on his heels, the latter with a dubious expression on his face, "Something I need to know?"

"Change of plans," Lily winked, and James chuckled, moving aside so Sirius could enter the flat, and shutting the door behind him.

"Why are we marrying Lily?" Sirius asked.

" _I_ , not we," James corrected, rolling his eyes, and Lily laughed.

"Of course, so sorry," Sirius smirked, not looking the least bit apologetic as James pouted, "what's it Lily's done?"

"Helped my headache," Remus said, beaming at Lily, who grinned back at him. She jumped, alarmed, as James and Sirius yelled out.

"Lily you're a fucking miracle worker, I don't know how you do it," Sirius whined, dropping his head into his hands. She shot an alarmed look at Remus, who simply eyed his friends in disgust.

"I, er, I looked up a spell-"

"I meant the _Healing_ ," Sirius said, placing great emphasis on the last word, looking up at her with wide eyes, "you're fucking magic."

"Well she _is_ a witch," Remus snorted, and Lily chuckled in agreement.

"We had to do some Healing spells today," James muttered as explanation, walking over and dropping his head down on Lily's shoulder. She laughed, "they're much more fucking complicated than I thought, how the bloody hell do you do it all the time?"

"My _wrist_ hurts," Sirius whined, adding on James' point. He rolled his wrist joint to emphasize his point, a pained expression on his face. Remus rolled his eyes and lay back, muttering about weaklings and 'I'll show them real pain'.

"You'll get used to it," Lily giggled, gently stroking James' hair. He kissed her on the neck, "Did you get in trouble for letting me heal you?"

"No, thank fuck," Sirius snorted, throwing himself down on Peter's bed, resting his feet on the edge of Remus'. Remus shot him a dirty look and attempted to swat away his feet to no avail, "he complimented us for being resourceful."

"Then said I couldn't come crying to you every time I got injured," James grumbled, and Lily laughed, wrapping her arm around his neck and hugging him to her.

"Don't worry James, you can always come crying to me," she giggled, kissing him on the cheek, and James chuckled.

"Why'd you think they'd be in trouble?" Remus asked, closing his eyes and enjoying the lack of pounding in his sensitive head.

"Alma," she shrugged, and Sirius cocked a brow at her, "she was worried that I shouldn't have helped you. She's heard stories about Moody and how vicious he could be."

"We were worried too," James chuckled, standing up straight and yawning, "everyone else got an earful for not getting healed."

"Why were you talking to her about us?" Sirius asked irritably, and Lily rolled her eyes.

"She saw James come in covered in blood, I didn't think I could really pull of an 'oh it's nothing' excuse," she scoffed, and James smirked at Sirius, who rolled his eyes, fighting off a reluctant smile, "she actually gave you lot a compliment, said she thought it was admirable that you were dedicating your lives to fighting the bad guys," she said. She grinned as Sirius gaped.

"That's…nice," he said, sounding none too happy about it, and Lily snorted.

"Yes, she's a very nice person," she said, before looking down at her clothes, "I've got to change out of these, didn't have the best day."

"Why? What happened?" Sirius asked, his eyes filled with concern as they examined her face, looking for any sign of her being upset. James, noticing this, rolled his eyes, fighting back a smile.

"I'd rather not talk about it," Lily shuddered, and James smirked down at her, "don't look at me like that, you'd feel the same if you were me."

"What did you do?" Remus chuckled, and Lily groaned, dropping her head so that she was resting her forehead on James' chest. He grinned and brought his hand up to her head, scratching his fingers against her scalp comfortingly.

"Some Healer made me stand with him while he examined a dead persons organs for damage," she groaned, closing her eyes. James and Remus grimaced, but didn't react otherwise. Sirius however, gagged, standing up and shuddering violently.

"That's the fucking grossest thing I've ever heard. Merlin's sake Evans, have some decency," he squawked, shuddering again. Lily bit back a laugh at the look of disgust on his face, "that's bloody nasty, I need to fucking shower after hearing that, Merlin," he continued to mutter, hurrying towards the innards of the flat, pulling off his shirt as he went.

"Our future protection, ladies and gentlemen," Remus muttered, smirking as the shower turned on. Lily and James laughed, James pressing a kiss against her forehead before she turned to head towards their bedroom, "What the hell happened anyway? Why were you covered in blood?"

James groaned, "Moody made the trainees war," he said, and Remus barked a laugh, "It's not funny, you prick. Anyway, where's Wormtail?" James asked, frowning as he looked around, just having noticed the blond boy was absent. Remus sighed and rubbed at his temples.

"He had to go to tea with one of his aunts or something," he murmured, and James rolled his eyes, "then I think he was planning on stopping by Flourish & Blotts to look at some more books. Our stock isn't really proving helpful in the destruction category," Remus mused, gesturing to the stack of books by his bedside. James blinked.

"He's going to Diagon Alley? Is he mad? With all the attacks?"

"Don't worry," Remus yawned, ignoring James' accusatory glare, "I already hollered and honked at him. He said he'd simply transform if anything dangerous happened. Said Death Eaters don't take sadistic joy over killing rats, just humans. And you know how he is when he decides to do something," he said, and James rolled his eyes.

"He's an idiot," James said simply, and Remus chuckled.

"You almost sound concerned, Prongs," Remus teased, and James sighed, shaking his head.

"Don't be a pain Moony, of course I'm concerned. He's still one of my best mates, despite overwhelming evidence that it should be the contrary," James muttered, and Remus rolled his eyes.

"Fictitious evidence. The future's different now," Remus said, his voice uncharacteristically sharp, and James sighed.

"Yeah, we'll see," he muttered, "Hot chocolate?"

"Please."

"I'll have one too," Sirius called after James, as the black haired boy headed into the kitchen. Sirius shuddered once more, dropping back onto Peter's bed.

"Feel better?" Remus smirked, and Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Fucking disgusting," he muttered, running his hands through his wet hair, "I don't know how she looks at that stuff without being sick all over the place."

"Now _that_ is a disgusting thought," Remus snickered, and Sirius rolled his eyes, kicking against the leg of Remus' cot. Remus laughed, "has Lily gone for a shower?"

"Yeah, don't know how she waits so long," Sirius shuddered, and Remus grinned. James made his way out of the kitchen, levitating four cups of hot chocolate, "Well, someone can't count," Sirius snorted, and James rolled his eyes, setting two cups on the table and sending the other two floating towards Sirius and Remus.

"It's for Lily, you twat," James snorted, charming her mug to stay warm.

"She didn't ask for one," Sirius scoffed, and Remus rolled his eyes.

"It's a wonder you have a girlfriend," he muttered, and Sirius flipped him off as James smirked, taking a sip of his hot chocolate.

"I'm not giving her false expectations," Sirius scoffed.

"Don't give her any expectations, you'll be better off," Remus sniggered, and Sirius kicked his cot again.

"So when is Wormtail getting back?" James asked, and Remus looked down at his watch.

"Should be about now," he said, and as if on cue, Peter entered the flat, holding a small rucksack. He paused, noticing that the boys were back, and grinned.

"Hi guys, how was your day?" he asked, walking over and dropping his rucksack by his bed. Sirius groaned loudly.

"They were in a makeshift war, then had Lily heal them, then had to learn how to heal themselves and it was apparently really hard," Remus recapped, as Peter continued to look flabbergasted by Sirius' reaction.

"I see," Peter said, biting back a smile as he unzipped his rucksack.

"Find anything?" James asked, and Peter shrugged.

"I found a few books on the most destructive magical properties, I figured that was a decent place to start," he said, pulling the books out of his bag and stacking them up on his bed. Sirius picked up the first one and flipped it open, examining the contents page, "Then I found this one on magical traces," he said, looking fairly excited as he pulled out the gray hard-covered book, "I figured it'd be useful for us, since we don't actually know how to detect where magic has been used, we can learn about it," he said, and Remus beamed.

"That's _excellent_ ," he said happily, eyes following the book as Peter placed it on top of his pile. Peter cocked a brow at him.

"Why do you look different?"

"Lily helped," Remus said, and Peter smiled, before closing up his rucksack and placing it on the floor.

"Where is she?"

"Shower," Sirius said, eyes continuing to scan the book, "this is fucking excellent. There are so many properties we haven't even considered in here."

"Yeah, that's what I thought, as well," Peter said, walking over to sit down on one of the chairs by James, "Is this mine?" he asked, reaching for the spare mug of hot chocolate.

"It's Lily's," Sirius said.

"You can have it," Lily said, walking into the room, her hair up in a towel. She shot Peter a grin.

"Thanks Lily," he said, taking a sip from the mug as she walked over to his bed, eyes on the new books.

"Did you get these today?" she asked, and Peter nodded. She crouched down to examine the titles, Sirius watching her get more and more excited with a grin on his face.

"You're mad, Evans," he chuckled, shaking his head fondly as she squealed and grabbed the gray book.

"Peter! This is incredible," she squawked, sitting down next to Sirius, who chuckled and threw his arm around her shoulders. She looked down at the book with wide, worshipping eyes, "Do you know what this means? We won't even have to do that much work anymore if we fine another one, we can just-"

"That is the general idea," Peter chuckled, as she trailed off, flipping through the book and scanning the pages.

"Where did you get this?" she breathed, turning her giddy smile onto him.

"Flourish & Blotts," he said, and Lily's eyebrows shot up. Sirius looked alarmed.

"You went to Diagon Alley? Are you mad?"

"That's what I said," James muttered, and Peter flushed.

"Well, I mean, someone had to. We were running out of things to do, and we need to do more research so I figured-"

"You _are_ mad," Sirius muttered, shaking his head in disbelief as Lily continued to look at Peter, jaw dropped.

"How's Diagon Alley looking after the attacks?" Remus asked, and Peter's expression fell.

"Not good," he sighed, shaking his head sadly, "there are barely any people around, and the ones that actually are are flitting around, not making eye contact, terrified, and just getting what they need. Nobody just hangs out anymore," he said with a grimace.

"That's awful," Lily sighed, leaning her toweled head on Sirius' shoulder. He smiled and patted her comfortingly, "Oh! Remus," she said suddenly, turning to him, and he cocked a brow at her, "Do you want me to book you a ward in Mungos for the day after tomorrow?" she asked. Sirius frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"Well," Lily said, biting her lip, "When I was in the lycanthropy section of the library today, one of the Healers came up to me and asked me why. I told her I know someone who suffered from it, and she said that I should probably hurry up and book a ward on the First Floor. As far as she knew, most of the private ones were already taken for the day after full moon," she said, and James' expression fell.

"I didn't even think about that," he said, turning to Remus apologetically, "I suppose I was just used to the Hospital Wing."

"Don't worry about it," Remus smiled, shaking his head, "Slipped my mind too."

"I'll take that as a yes then," Lily said sardonically, after a moment's silence, and Sirius guffawed.

"Suppose that one again poses the question of what we're doing tomorrow night," James said, and Remus' expression fell as Sirius grimaced.

"Fucking hell, how did we leave it so last minute?" he grumbled, and Lily frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, we have to find a place to go, you know," James said, and Lily gasped.

"Oh Merlin, I completely forgot. I don't know why I just assumed you'd stay here. I was planning on taking the night shift anyway so I'd be there in the morning when he came in," she said, gesturing around the flat. When a thoughtful expression crossed Sirius' face, Remus shook his head violently.

"No, I'll destroy the flat," he said bluntly, and Sirius sighed, but nodded in acquiescence, "And I've already made my decision regarding this," he said hesitantly, and James turned to him sharply.

"What?"

"Where?" Sirius hollered, frowning, and Remus sighed. He pushed himself up into a seated position and looked sadly down into his lap.

"I think the smartest option is for me to go and transform in my parents cellar," he said after a minute. James, Sirius and Peter gaped.

" _What_?" Sirius snapped, and Remus sighed, giving Sirius a somber look.

"You _know_ it's the safest option. They had it built for this purpose alone," he added, "I don't want to endanger anyone, and that's guaranteed if I stay there."

"But that means we won't be able to be there with you," Peter said quietly, and James' jaw hardened.

"No," he said, shaking his head, and Remus sighed, turning to Lily, "No I won't allow it. You know it's worse for you if you don't have us around. You always do less harm to yourself if we're there," he said, gesturing between the three of them, the other two of whom nodded vigorously, their expressions hard.

"We don't have time to find anywhere else," Remus insisted, "And even if we did, it wouldn't be as safe as transforming at my parents house," he added. James, simply shook his head, his eyes hard. Remus turned back to Lily, "Please, you know it's the only option."

"No, it's not," Sirius argued, shaking his head, "We can go out now, we'll find a remote forest or something-"

"But you can't guarantee that there won't be people, who I'd put in danger-"

"Yes we can, we can set up a perimeter and make sure James and I run patrol before you transform," Sirius said, nodding at James, who nodded insistently at Remus, "And then we can-"

"It's not safe," Remus argued, cutting him off, looking furious, "You know as well as I do that people could show up at any point, and that I'd be able to get there faster than the two of you. We had close calls at bloody Hogwarts, what makes you think it'll be fine here?" he hissed, glaring at the three of them as they continued to look indignant, "As if this hasn't been hard enough, don't make it even more difficult for me to-"

"We're trying to make it _less_ difficult!" James yelled, standing up and Remus glared at him.

"I've already owled my parents," he said harshly, and James' jaw dropped.

"You _what_? Without _talking_ to us about this? Moony-"

"Moony that's ridiculous!" Peter bellowed, standing up as well, his eyes wide, "Why would you-"

"Are you fucking _insane_?" Sirius bellowed, cutting James and Peter off. He stood up, releasing Lily so he could advance on Remus. Remus looked at Lily, to see that she bore a sympathetic expression. When her green eyes met his pleading ones, she sighed and stood up, walking up behind Sirius, who was shaking with rage, and placing a gentle hand on his back.

"Sirius," she said gently, but he cut her off with a glare.

"Don't you dare Lily," he growled, before pointing at Remus, "He can't _do this_ without us."

"I can, and I will," Remus murmured. James and Peter opened their mouths to protest, and Sirius turned his furious glare onto Remus instead, "I'll be all right, you know?"

"No you wont," Sirius spat, "You'll bite yourself because you don't have company, you'll wake up alone in a fucking _cellar_ , and you'll need to spend fucking _days_ in Mungos to recover from the damage you do to yourself!"

"I know," Remus said, closing his eye sand taking a breath. Upon seeing this, Lily, walked away from Sirius to sit by him, grabbing his hand in hers. Remus opened his eyes, which were wet with tears, and gazed at her.

"I'll go book you a ward right now," she said, squeezing his hand, and he nodded, blinking quickly to stop his tears.

"Thank you," he choked, and she nodded sadly. She made to get up but he held her there, turning to look at James.

"You can't be okay with this!" Sirius yelled, turning angrily to James for support.

"I'm not!" James yelled, advancing on Remus, who continued to look up at him earnestly, "This is stupid, you know we could help, it'll be difficult and risky, yes, but at least-"

"It's not all about me, James," Remus said, sounding tired, "I have to think about other people. If anything happened, it'd be because of me, and not only would I have to face horrible legal consequences, I couldn't live with myself if I hurt another person," he said. James glared at him once more before storming away into his and Lily's bedroom. Remus winced as a door slammed. He turned to Lily, "Can you talk to him please? Before you go?" he asked, and Lily bit her lip, before nodding.

She stood up and placed a gentle hand on Sirius' arm. His outraged gaze met hers, "Hear him out properly before you start yelling," she murmured. His gaze softened slightly as she turned away from him, after shooting a pointed look at Peter, and headed towards James.

The living room remained silent, Remus wincing when he heard James' voice yelling at Lily. The noise stopped too suddenly, "Silencing charm," Peter murmured into the awkward silence, and Sirius sighed. He threw himself moodily back onto the bed and turned his sullen gaze to Remus.

"Talk," he muttered, and Remus smiled at him.

"I said what I needed to say," he said slowly, watching as Peter, taking Sirius' lead, sat back down in the chair, "I'm aware of the consequences, and I regret that you lot won't be able to keep me company, but school's over," he sighed. Sirius' eyes tightened, "We can't keep acting like there are no consequences to what we choose to do, especially this night," he continued, blinking quickly as the emotion began to build up in his throat. His eyes stung with tears, "What you boys did for me, I can't quite explain how that felt," he choked, a few tears escaping his eyes. Sirius and Peter's expressions softened, "to be accepted so unconditionally in a world where I'd always expected to be rejected. And that was great at Hogwarts. But here, in the real world, outside of the safety net Dumbledore provided us against punishment, we need to be smarter. If your secret were to be discovered, the consequence is Azkaban. I can't accept that," he said, shaking his head, and Sirius bit the inside of his cheek, "and if the Ministry realized I was running around in a forest, within biting distance of innocent people, magic or non-magic, I'd face severe consequences as well."

"You're saying you're going to go back to your parents' every time, aren't you?" Sirius asked, his voice sharp, and Remus grimaced, "You've already decided this?"

"I think it'd be best," he said quietly, nodding. The three fell into silence once more, Remus swallowing against the lump of emotion in his throat. The idea of suffering through a full moon was always tough, but to do it without the support he'd had for the last couple years, both as he transformed and throughout, he couldn't explain the pain of going back to that. He'd always found great comfort in having James', Sirius' and Peters' voices murmuring soothing words as his body tore itself apart, the last memory him having of that night being Sirius' whispered 'change now' to the others, something he'd done at that moment, knowing Remus would know they were there and able to look after him the second he finally los this mind. The comfort he felt waking up wrapped in James' cloak that the boy had draped him in before leaving that morning, before Pomfrey and Dumbledore could spot the three of them in there. Being carried back to the Hospital Wing on a stretcher behind Dumbledore and Pomfrey in the darkness of early morning, Peter, in his rat form, audibly squeaking from the ground alongside the stretcher, to alert him of his presence as he accompanied him on the journey from the Whomping Willow to the castle.

Finally, Peter let out a long sigh, before standing and walking over to his bed. He took a seat next to Sirius, his blue eyes full of understanding as he reached forwards and gripped Remus' shoulder, "Okay mate," he said, his voice heavy, after a few moments. Sirius continued to look at Remus, clearly refraining from shouting again, before sighing.

"Yeah, fine," he grumbled, crossing his arms and turning away from the sandy-haired boy, "But I'm not happy about it, and I reserve the right to attempt to convince you otherwise," he added bitterly, and Remus chuckled, wiping at his eyes.

"I'd never deny you that," he said, and Sirius rolled his eyes, before reaching forwards and squeezing Remus' knee, turning his eyes on him.

"We'll be there the second you wake up," he said, and Remus nodded, blinking quickly to hold back the tears.

* * *

Lily quietly closed the door behind her as she entered their bedroom. James was angrily muttering to himself as he paced along the far side of the room, and hadn't noticed her enter. She could practically feel the tension radiating off of him and took a deep breath, preparing herself for his temper.

"James," she murmured quietly, and he spun, his eyes blazing, to face her, a hard look on his face.

"What?" he snapped, glaring at her as she took the few steps between them, so she was standing an arms length away from him. She hesitated, not knowing what to say to prevent an explosion and keep him relatively calm. Unfortunately, she need not have worried; he exploded anyway, "WHAT LILY?"

She winced and pulled out her wand, casting a silencing charm quickly before the others could hear any more yelling. She was certain the boys as probably going to say a few things he'd regret the others hearing; she figured this conversation best remained between the two of them. She tucked her wand back into the waistband of her pants and looked back up at him, green eyes gazing calmly up into his wavering hazels. His angry gaze flew from her eyes to the stern set of her jaw, before he huffed and turned away from her, hand flying up to pull at his hair, his other resting on his hip.

"Go away," he growled, facing away from her, "I don't want to talk."

"Tough," she said, and he took in a sharp breath.

"Lily," he gritted out through clenched teeth. She noticed his shoulders tense, as they did when he was holding back from screaming.

"I'm sorry James, but you're just going to have to talk to me," she said, sitting herself down on the bed, crossing one leg over the other, and looking up at him patiently.

"Lily, get _OUT_!" he roared. He kicked at one of the end tables in the room, which toppled over, spinning away and slamming into the wall. Lily flinched, but held her ground as he turned to glare at her.

"No," she said, crossing her arms and keeping her eyes on his, "Talk to me James, tell me what the matter is."

"The, the fucking, WHAT THE MATTER IS?" he yelled, storming towards her. His eyes were wild, flickering from her to various pieces of furniture, as if deciding which one would be his next victim, "Did you _honestly_ just _fucking ask me that_?"

"Yes James, I want to know why you're acting like a lunatic and destroying the furniture," she said. James let out a frustrated yell and turned, punching the wardrobe. Lily winced as the wood protested, a crack appearing where his knuckles had hit, "This is about _Remus_ -"

" _Don't_ ," he growled, turning on her, pointing his finger, "Do _not_ even _think_ you understand what is going on here," he said. Lily swallowed back the hurt she felt, "You don't know a _bloody thing_!"

"It's what Remus wants, James-"

"Remus is an idiot!" he bellowed, raising his hands angrily, "He _never_ knows what's best for him! Fuck, it's like you don't even know him!" he yelled at her. Lily narrowed her eyes at him angrily, "He's _my_ best mate! Stop _acting_ like you're a part of this! Why don't you just leave dealing with Remus to _me_? "

"He's my friend too," Lily said harshly, standing up and glaring at James, "That makes me as much a part of this as it does you. You're not the only one who _cares_ about him, James! And just because I don't transform into a bloody animal doesn't mean I'm happy about him going off and doing this himself!" she shouted, taking a step towards him, "Do you know what I think? I think this is about the fact that you can't handle the fact that he's going to do this without _you_!" she yelled. James froze, his eyes narrowing dangerously as he advanced on her, stopping when he was a breath away from her.

"Ego again, is it? The usual insults? What are we, fifteen again?" he sneered, glaring down at her. Lily narrowed her eyes up at him.

"Well you might as well be," she bit, her red hair practically crackling with her fury, "It's the same as the orphanage, isn't it? That you're not there? That you can protect him better? That he can't handle this without you?" she hissed. James glared at her, "This is all about _you_ James, and how bad _you're_ feeling about being forced to abandon him!"

"Figured that out on your own, did you?" he growled, his hot breath hitting her face in harsh pants. Lily continued to glare at him, unblinking.

"Yes, I did," she snapped, placing her hands on her hips, "And unlike you, I took a second to look at this from _Remus'_ perspective, rather than focus on my own bloody emotions," she said, giving him a pointed look. James blinked at her, his face contorted in an awful scowl.

"It's not-"

"Yes it is!" she yelled, taking another step towards him, jabbing him in the chest with her finger, "Remus is _upset_ James, and not because he has to do this himself, not because of the unimaginable pain he's going to be in tomorrow night, but because he's upset _you_ ," she said, her voice becoming less angry and more comforting, "I know it's hard for you to watch the people you love suffer and not be able to do anything about it," she said, her voice much gentler now that he'd stopped trying to fight back, "I know you've every right to feel like this. But James, think about poor Remus," she sighed, closing her eyes. She placed her hand gently on his chest, over his heart, clenching his shirt into a fist.

"Yes, fine, you're right," James growled, pushing her hand off him, turning away and stomping away from her. The turned, spreading his arms wide, "Happy, are you? That you've got me so well pegged? Well congratu-fucking-lations!" he bellowed, and Lily sighed.

"James-"

"No, really Lily, go on, tell me more," he sneered, crossing his arms and looking down at her, his eyes angry, his tone aiming to hurt. Lily sighed and crossed her arms, looking up into his eyes imploringly.

"James," she said quietly, and he glared down at her, "listen to Remus," she urged gently, "If you do, and genuinely follow his wishes, you know Sirius and Peter will as well. Especially Sirius, you know he won't stop badgering Remus unless you tell him to," she added, reaching out for one of his hands. He twitched out of her reach, and she sighed.

"I won't," he growled, "You have no idea what it's like for him," he spat, circling back so they were toe-to-toe, looking down into her infuriatingly understanding eyes that were looking right through him, "He's going to cause himself unimaginable pain, _on purpose_ ," he added through gritted teeth. This time, he didn't twitch away when Lily placed her hand gently on his forearm, "His parents won't let us be in there with him, and there's _no way_ for us to sneak in to help him, I've seen that bloody cellar, it's fucking primeval Lil," he added, closing his eyes, "And frankly it's not safe for us to be in there anyway, even if we could get in. It's too small a space, if he made one wrong move…" he drifted off, dropping his head. Lily could see the fight draining out of him, and took a step closer, her heart breaking at the pain coating his voice and his face, "It's cold, and it's dark, and there are bloody chains and a padlock keeping it shut. He'll be all alone," he choked, his voice cracking on the last word.

He opened his eyes, and found hers full of understanding and empathy. She let her hand trail down his arm to thread her fingers through his, squeezing his hand, a show of support. James sighed, resting his forehead against hers, closing his eyes once more as he felt them fill with tears.

"What do I do?" he choked. The tears escaped as he opened his eyes to plead with her, running freely down his face. Lily looked up into his red-rimmed eyes and brought her other hand up to his cheek, wiping away the tears with her thumb, "How can I help him when he's locking himself in a basement?"

"Just be there for him," she murmured, looking imploringly up at him, "Tell him it'll all be okay. Support him. Make sure that the only time he'salone is while he's locked in that cellar," she urged, tightening her hold on his hand as his body shook with a silent sob, "This is going to be harder for him than it is for you, love," she added in a whisper, and he nodded, looking deep into her eyes.

"I'm sorry, I said some shit that was out of line," he murmured, and Lily smiled.

"I know when you don't mean it, James," she said, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him into a hug, burying her face in his neck and placing a gentle kiss there. He pulled her against him, holding her to him tightly, dropping his face down into her shoulder, "It's okay."

"I'm a ponce," he mumbled, squeezing her tighter, and she let out a breathy laugh.

"I know," she smiled, tucking her face more snugly into his neck, "I love you anyway."

"Thank you," he sighed, pulling back and looking down into her beautiful face. Her face was still flushed from when she had screamed at him, her hair was a damp fiery mess tumbling freely around her shoulders and down her back, and she was looking up at him with those green eyes that knew him too well. She frowned.

"For what?"

"For being you," he sighed, and Lily grinned.

"Well, I just figured we needed a good argument, it's been a while," she giggled, and James let out a muted chuckle, looking down at the floor.

"What do I do now?"

"Go talk to Remus," she said simply, and James sighed, shaking his head.

"I can't, not yet," he said sadly. When she looked up at him dubiously, he sighed, "I just, I need a minute," he said, and Lily nodded, pressing her lips into a tight line.

"You can come with me to book his ward if you want?" she suggested after a moment, and he grinned down at her, "That'll give you a good chunk of time to pull yourself together."

"Please," he said, nodding, and Lily smiled, attempting to pull herself away from him, "You'll have to side along me, I don't know where I'm going," he said, and Lily rolled her eyes, "I'll get lost."

"I'm sure," she deadpanned, pinning him with an exasperated look. He grinned and continued to hold on to her, "Your mood swings are giving me a complex," she muttered, closing her eyes, and James chuckled.

"Yeah, one that you're better than me," he snorted, and Lily smirked, eyes still closed.

"Quiet, I'm concentrating," she said, and James grinned, holding her tighter. She grabbed his arms and was about to turn on the spot when she gasped, "Oh, wait," she said, eyes snapping open, "I should probably tell at least one of the others that we're gone. You know how they are," she added, rolling her eyes, and James smirked down at her as she pushed his arms away from her and tottered to the bedroom door, "Are you going to hide in here?"

"I'm not _hiding_ -"

"Got it," she winked, smirking at his indignant expression and red hue. She hurried towards the living room and smiled as she saw Sirius and Peter give Remus reassuring smiles. Sirius looked up and caught her eye, cocking a brow at her. Having noticed his attention was diverted, Remus and Peter turned as well.

Remus paled, "Is he-"

"He's fine," Lily said, waving off his concern, giving him a reassuring smile, "I think we're going to go book your ward," she said, and Remus nodded, gulping.

"B-both of you?"

"You know how he gets," Lily snorted, and Remus' lip twitched.

"Has he been yelling this entire time?"

"Almost," Lily winked, and Sirius snorted, shaking his head in amusement.

"I don't need to know that you two were in there snogging-"

"There was no snogging!" Lily squeaked, her voice indignant, and the three smirked, "I mean it this time," she hissed, and they laughed.

"At least you've accepted your slaggish ways," Sirius sniggered, and Lily gasped.

"Oi, what did you say to her?" James' voice said sternly from behind her. She snapped her head around so quickly she almost gave herself a head rush, a grin growing on her face as he ignored her and glared over her head at Sirius. She turned and shot Sirius a smug smile.

"It was a _joke_ ," Sirius insisted, rolling his eyes, "Fucks sake, you can't even tease Evans around him anymore."

"I've trained him well," Lily giggled, and Sirius chuckled.

"Doesn't mean I believe you," Sirius said, that infuriating mocking look on his face.

"About what?" James asked, looking between Lily and Sirius. Sirius smirked.

"She said you two weren't in there snogging."

"Which is _true_ ," Lily scoffed, turning to look at James, "tell him it's true!"

"I don't lie, Lily," he said, smirking down at her, his eyes twinkling, and she gaped

"James!" she yelled, shoving at him, "It's not true!" she insisted, turning back to the other three, who laughed.

"Whatever you say, Lily," Peter snickered, and she turned to glare at James, who simply winked down at her, a smug expression on his handsome face.

"You can stay here then," she sniffed, and he smiled down at her. She raised her brows as she realized this was what he wanted, "Okay then," she said, a small smile on her face, then turned away from him, "Good _bye_ ," she sniffed, turning on the spot. The three sniggered, their amusement dying off as James cleared his throat, his eyes on the werewolf. Remus gulped.

"I know you're angry-" he started, but James held up his hand, cutting him off.

"We need to figure out how we're going to get you there and back," he said purposefully, walking over and sitting on the edge of Remus' bed, placing his hand on Remus' knee with a small smile, "I figure we can drop you off at night, I know you don't like hanging around your parents before the full moon," he added, "Your dad always gets quiet and drinks, your mum keeps fussing all over you and dropping hints you should probably go wait in the basement over an hour before full moon hits," he rolled his eyes, and Sirius snorted, "So I figure we'll have an early supper, and then about a half hour before full moon, we'll all come drop you off at your parents, and we'll stay till you go down," he said, clearing his throat as it closed up with emotion.

He looked down at the floor for a moment to catch his emotion, and felt Remus' hand cover his. He turned to the sandy haired boy, to see his eyes full of tears, a grateful smile on his face.

"You're seriously okay with this?" Sirius gasped, disbelief evident on his face, and James sighed.

"No, but I think Moony's thought this through, and I trust him," James said, and Sirius bit the inside of his cheek, his eyes calculating. Remus squeezed James' hand, "And I'm sure it's harder on him than it is on us," he added, and Remus smirked.

"That sounds like Lily talking," he said, and James rolled his eyes.

"She's a fucking tyrant," he said bluntly, in place of an explanation. That elicited a laugh from both Remus and Peter, the former reaching up and wiping at his eyes. Sirius continued to look put out, but more like he was beginning to accept the decision, rather than actively opposing it.

"So then what?" Peter asked, and James sighed.

"Well, I reckon we should probably come back here after that," he said, sounding none-too-happy about the matter, "Lil already said she was planning to take on the night shift so she'll be there in the morning when we bring him in, so we can behave as poorly as we want," he said with a smirk, and Remus chuckled, "then I figure we go to Moony's parents' the minute he's human again," he said, and Sirius nodded, "and take him to Mungos, whether or not the Lupins like it we're going to be annoying helpful," he said, and Sirius smirked.

"I can manage that," he said slowly, and Remus snorted.

"Yes, I know," he scoffed. Sirius gave him his first genuine smile since the conversation had started.

"Then we leave him in Lily's hands for a little while," he said, and Remus nodded, "I think she's going to make sure she's helping heal you, so you're not alone or surrounded by strangers," he said, and Remus chuckled.

"She sure has a habit of babying us," he said, and James smirked.

"Let's not pretend anyone has a problem with that," he said, looking pointedly at Sirius, who rolled his eyes.

"All right, all right, I get it, Sirius is a softie, let's move on," he grumbled, pushing his dark locks back from his face, and the others laughed.

"I'll stay with Moony in the Mungos ward," Peter piped in, smiling at Remus, "while you two are at work, I mean. I'll bring some books and we can both do a bit reading." Remus grinned at him.

"I'd like that," he said, and Peter grinned.

"And we'll come bother you after work," James said, gesturing to him and Sirius. Remus rolled his eyes.

"Merlin help the Mungos staff," he said, and Sirius pulled a face at him.

They were still laughing when Lily reappeared, looking vaguely put out, "What's the matter with you?" James chuckled, pulling her onto his lap and dropping a kiss behind her ear.

"Nothing," she grumbled, before turning to Remus with a smile, "so turns out all the private wards are booked, but I managed to wrangle you a semi private one with another werewolf," she said, "I'm so sorry, I should have just booked one earlier today but I wasn't sure of what the plan was."

"Not a problem," he said with a smile, shaking his shaggy head, "I'll make a new friend."

"Forever the optimist," Sirius snorted, shaking his head in exasperation. Remus grinned at him.

"Now what's the matter with you?" James asked, rubbing Lily on the back, and she huffed, blowing a strand of hair out of her eyes.

"I was accosted by Hestia," she grumbled, shooting Sirius an annoyed look. He held his hands up, leaning away, "She wanted me to be one of her sources on her article and tell her about the attacks."

"Did you?" Peter asked, nervously eyeing James' agitated expression.

"No," Lily scoffed, crossing her arms and leaning her head on James' shoulder, "I didn't think it was appropriate to be harassing friends for an article, I told her she was better off talking to a fully qualified Senior Healer," she added. Sirius made a noise of protest, "What?" she asked, turning to him, and he rolled his eyes.

"I told her to stop pestering the Mungos staff," he snorted, "she got told off by a few Healers last time she was in Mungos for prying. They told her it was a matter of public record and she could check it out herself," he said, and Lily snorted.

"They're right."

"I know," Sirius chuckled, "But you know Hestia."

"Yeah," Lily grumbled, and James chuckled, rubbing her back soothingly, "Then I bumped into Alma, who still hadn't bloody left because she was looking for Owen-"

"Who?" Sirius asked, frowning, and Lily sighed exasperatedly. Remus sniggered.

"The trainee she's been seeing," he supplied, and Lily grinned at him.

"I knew you listened to me," she said, and James sputtered.

" _I_ listen to you!"

"Yes I know," she said with an eye roll, pinching his cheek. He chuckled, shaking his head, "Anyway, she decided she wanted to have a nice long conversation about bridesmaids dresses-"

"I didn't know she was a bridesmaid," Peter said, cocking his head to the side.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot to mentioned that I'd asked her today," she said, turning to James with a quick smile, "I asked Alma to be a bridesmaid today," she beamed at him, and he chuckled.

"Yeah I heard that on the grapevine," he said with an eye roll, and Lily shoved at him, "Wish I'd heard it from you."

"Stop being a prat," she scolded, and he grinned at her, "So she obviously said yes," she added, turning away from James, whose grin widened, "Seems that since I left she compiled the longest list on dresses she doesn't look good in so I would know what to choose," she snorted, and Remus laughed.

"Organised," he said, and Lily snorted.

"Presumptuous," she snorted, and Remus laughed.

"How is it presumptuous? You already asked her to be a bridesmaid."

"Yes but she presumed she'd have any input," Lily sniffed, and the boys laughed, "I mean, what if I _wanted_ pale yellow dresses with large ruffled sleeves? That's my prerogative, isn't it?"

"You don't, right?" Sirius asked, nose wrinkled in disgust, and Lily turned to him, exasperated, as James fought back a laugh.

"It is your prerogative love, I'm sorry you had to sit through that," James said mockingly, and Lily glared at him.

"Maybe _I'll_ decide to wear a dress like that, just to spite you," she said, and James laughed.

"I'd marry you if you came dressed in a large sack, love, not to worry," he grinned, and Lily flushed as he leaned forwards to kiss her.

"Please don't though, wouldn't do well for the camera," Peter said, and Lily rolled her eyes as Sirius and Remus sniggered.

"I think it'd make you look massive," Sirius said, and Lily shrieked indignantly.

"You can't _say_ that," she squeaked, turning her offended eyes on him, "What if I look massive on my wedding day, hm? Will you say so?"

"No," Sirius said quickly, grinning. When he said nothing else, Lily huffed, turning to James, who grinned.

"You won't look massive, you're tiny," he said, and Lily grinned.

"This is why I'm marrying _you_ ," she said, shooting Sirius a dirty look. Sirius sniggered.

"It's all part of the plan Lil, I can't have you falling for me now, I'm not ready to die yet," he said, smirking at James, who rolled his eyes as Lily laughed. Remus rolled his eyes and lay back with a groan.

"What's the matter?" the other four asked in unison, and Remus snorted.

"My headache is returning," he whined, pouting at Lily, who rolled her eyes and stood up, crouching down by his head and pulling her wand out.

"It's supposed to last a few hours," she said, frowning as she stared at him, "Are you sure it's back in full force? Or is it just inklings?"

"Inklings," he said, and Lily nodded, "I don't think all the stress helped."

"What stress?" Sirius asked, and Lily rolled her eyes as Peter and James shot him disbelieving looks, "Oh, right," he said, rubbing the back of his neck, embarrassed, as Lily recast the spell.

Remus groaned, "That feels so much better," he whined, and Lily laughed, standing up and ruffling his hair.

"Glad I could help," she said, stretching her arms above her head and yawning, "Merlin, I'm knackered."

"Go sleep," James said, smiling up at her, "we've got a long day tomorrow as it is. Mum owled and said we were all going wedding shopping after work," he added, and Lily's jaw dropped.

" _What_?"

"Yup," James chuckled, grinning at the look of horror on her face, "apparently our Mums have plotted behind our backs. Your Mum's taking you for your dress, you're welcome to invite a few more people, perhaps Alice and Alma," he said, mimicking his mothers' voice, and Lily rolled her eyes, flushing, "although your mother kept insisting Petunia be there as well, so good luck with that," he said with a salute, and Lily groaned, dropping her head in her hands as Sirius, Peter and Remus smirked at her.

"Does Petunia _have to_ come?" she whined, and James shrugged.

"She's your sister."

"Shut up Potter, nobody asked you," she grumbled, and James grinned as his friends laughed, "What are _you_ doing then?"

"The lads and I are going with Mum and Dad," he said, looking around at the others, who shrugged, Remus slightly uneasily.

"But will we be back in time-"

"Absolutely," James said with a nod, "If it seems like it's going to run longer, I'll stay with Mum and Dad to finalize things and you lot can come here and grab some nosh, I'll eat after we drop you off at your parents' or something," he said with an easy smile, and Remus nodded, placated.

"Tomorrow is going to be a _long_ day," Lily sighed, and James chuckled, "I should probably owl Alice and Alma and see what their plans are. Although, ugh, maybe I should go see Mum first and get appropriately guilt tripped into inviting Petunia," she grumbled, and the boys laughed. She gave them a weak wave before turning on the spot and disappearing.

"What's Hestia doing tonight?" Peter asked Sirius, who shrugged.

"She'll show up if she wants to," he said, shaking his head, "I've given up on planning anything with her. She's too impulsive for plans."

"Sounds exhausting," Remus teased, and Sirius snorted in agreement.

* * *

"This is fucking horrendous," Alma shuddered, picking at one of the bridesmaid dresses on the rack, "people actually wear this?"

"Don't be rude," Alice giggled, elbowing her in the side as she continued to sift through, "isn't this exciting? Wedding dress shopping? Merlin I never thought I'd see the day, especially not when she was marrying Potter," she said giddily. Alma rolled her eyes.

"You're far too cheerful," she grumbled, shuffling over to another rack as Alice demolished the one she had been on, "I mean, it's just shopping."

"I can't believe you just said that," Alice tutted, "how can you not like shopping?"

"Because it's boring?"

"Then you're not doing it right," Alice scolded, grabbing Alma's hand and pulling her over to another rack, "Come here seedling, let Mummy Alice teach you."

"You're mad," Alma laughed, shaking her head as Alice began to pull out various dresses and tell her which cuts would look best on her, "I can't believe someone actually proposed to you."

"For shame, wench," Alice squealed, swatting at the giggling Alma, "We barely know each other, your abuse is hardly justified. And for the record Frank is mad about me," she sniffed, turning away, and Alma laughed.

"Maybe he's mad too then," she mused, and Alice shot her a dirty look, causing her to giggle some more.

"Maybe _you're_ mad," Alice scoffed, and Alma grinned.

"Is that the best you can do?"

"Some of us aren't as nasty as other," Alice quipped, and Alma shook her head, grinning, "I'm one of the nice girls."

"Sounds boring."

" _You're_ boring!"

"Can you please just shut up," Lily sighed, walking out of the dressing room area, wearing what felt like her hundredth dress option. Her mother tottered out excitedly behind her, picking at various parts of the dress, "I can hear you bickering from back there."

"Not exactly surprising given the size of the store," Alice said breezily. Alma grinned at Lily, who rolled her eyes and made her way over to the large mirror, "That one makes your arse look huge," Alice called, and Alma bit her lip as Lily shrieked indignantly, turning her head to try and look at it.

"Oh, and you're a _nice_ girl," Alma snorted, and Alice winked at her. The two of them erupted in giggles as Lily turned to shoot them an annoyed look.

"Lily, enough of this," her mother scolded, turning her daughter back to face the mirror, "What do you think of this one?"

It was Lily's worst nightmare. Large poofing sleeves, an equally large ruffled skirt that extended to the point she was certain James wouldn't be able to stand closer than a few meters of her, "I look like I belong on top of a cake," Lily sighed, turning slightly to look at the back. Jane sighed.

"You really do," she said, and Lily shot her a sardonic look as she heard Alice and Alma giggle again, "I don't know what it is about you Lily, these traditional dresses don't really suit you."

"She's not a very traditional bride," Alice said with a wink at Lily, who stuck her tongue out. Jane let out another trilling laugh. To Lily's annoyance and great pleasure, her mother had become entirely too fond of Alice and Alma, and sided with them on all the teasing.

"Suppose if it had sparks shooting out of it it would suit you more," Jane teased, and Lily rolled her eyes, turning and getting off the pedestal as her _mother_ cackled.

"Aren't you supposed to be weepy? Your daughter is getting married. Most mothers can hardly see for the tears in their eyes," Lily sniffed, and Jane beamed at her.

"I'll be weepy when you don't look like a melting marshmallow, darling," she said, blowing her youngest a kiss, and Lily turned on her heel in a huff, rushing back to the fitting room to get out of the damn dress, Alma and Alice's sniggers following her.

"Perhaps we should look in a different section," Alice mused, grabbing Alma by the elbow for what felt like the thousandth time, and dragging her off into the depths of the store. Lily's mother was determined that Lily find a dress in this muggle store, as it had been where she, her mother, and her grandmother had bought their wedding dresses. Thankfully, Lily wasn't overly specific on what the dress should look like, only that she didn't want big sleeves and ideally something that was fitted most of the way down, so it allowed for a lot of trial and error. Jane, however, was a big fan of the large ruffles and large ball-gowns.

"That looks nice," Alma said after a moment of looking at the shelves, leaving the actual sifting through dresses to Alice. Alice looked up, and Alma nodded at a tight fitting dress that flared out at the calves. Alice shot her an appreciative glance.

"Seems you're not a lost cause after all," she grinned, grabbing the dress and marching back towards the fitting rooms, making sure to grab Alma around the elbow once more, ignoring her mutters and protests.

"I can _walk_ ," Alma whined.

"Quiet, you don't know what you're saying," Alice tutted, grinning widely at Jane Evans and handing her the dress, "we think she should try this on next."

"Oh, that's certainly different," she said, pursing her lips as she looked the dress up and down, "Hand it to her, not sure she'll like it that much though. Strapless tends to make her crotchety," she added with a giggle, and Alma smirked as Alice marched off to hand Lily the dress.

"How are you enjoying work?" Jane asked politely, smiling fondly, and Alma blinked, realizing that she was indeed talking to her.

"Oh! Yes, I'm enjoying it actually, despite some fairly difficult cases lately," she replied with a polite smile, and Jane chuckled.

"You sound just like my Lily," she said, sighing wistfully as she looked off in the direction of the changing rooms, "to think she'll be getting married soon. I can't believe how fast it all goes by, one day they're running around with loo roll veils on their heads, the next they're actually wedding dress shopping," she said with a grin, and Alma blinked, before smiling back. Spending all this time with Jane today, and witnessing her perspective of the mother-daughter relationship, Alma was starting to wonder if perhaps she'd been too harsh to judge her own mother, that maybe she should start opening her world up to her.

"She kicked up a right old fuss," Alice announced proudly as she walked up to them, dusting her hands off for a job well done, "Told her to wear it or I'd force her into another mushroom dress," she said with a wicked grin, and Jane laughed.

Just then there was a tinkling sound, as the door to the boutique opened and another woman marched in, her blond curls bouncing as she walked over to her mother, her face scrunched as if having swallowed a lemon. Alice tensed and crossed her arms, her eyes fixed harshly on the girl. Seeing her reaction, Alma frowned, looking back at the girl, to see Jane, with an uncharacteristically stern look on her face, her eyes fixed on the newcomer.

"Petunia, where have you been?" she scolded as she stormed over to her. Petunia pursed her brows at her mother as Jane continued to hiss at her.

"Who is-"

"Lily's _sister_ ," Alice sneered, turning her nose in the air and hurrying towards the fitting rooms, Alma on her heels.

"What's the problem-"

"They don't get on," Alice said, before snorting, "Correction, Lily does her best to hide how much it hurts, but Petunia's always been horrible to her and no longer speaks to her. She's made it clear on more than one occasion that they're no longer sisters," she said, and Alma gaped.

"That's ridiculous! Why would she-"

"She's resented Lily since she got her Hogwarts letter," Alice sighed, shaking her head sadly, "Lily doesn't like to talk about it, but their relationship never mended after Lily left."

"Why? Because Lily's magical and she's not?" Alma snorted, joking. Alice shot her a sad look, and Alma choked, "What? Seriously? _That's_ why she's a-"

"Bitter fucking troll? Yes," Alice said, turning to face Alma with a somber expression on her face, "A few years ago, in our Fifth Year, Lily almost managed to mend their relationship, or so she thought. She' been writing and writing Petunia and for once she got a reply. It was a thick envelope and Lily was so excited, so certain it was a long letter from her older sister talking about how much she wanted to mend their relationship as well," Alice sighed, shaking her head and pinching the bridge of her nose, "I had never seen Lily so upset before that, when she'd opened the envelope only for all of the letters she'd sent Petunia to fall out. Across each was written 'freak'," Alice sighed. Alma's jaw dropped, and Alice nodded in agreement, "it was rough. Which is why I don't think it was Lily's idea to have her here," she said, and gestured for alma to follow her in the dressing area.

"Lily said she might be coming, though," Alma whispered to Alice, who turned to her with a frown, "At work when she asked me to come along, she said you and her Mum would be there for sure and that her sister may come along."

"Mustn't have been her idea then," Alice snorted, shaking her head.

"I didn't even know she had a sister," Alma said quietly, and Alice shrugged.

"She doesn't, as far as she's concerned," she said, before grimacing, "Well, at least that's the way she likes to play it. She pushed through the letter incident and pretty much behaves as if it didn't happen, just so she doesn't burst into tears every time Petunia comes up," Alice said. Alma grimaced, "She's much more sensitive about it than you'd think. Frankly, I'm not even sure James knows about the letter incident," Alice frowned, before shrugging, "Whatever, I'll drop him a hint to ask about it if it ever comes up. What was I saying? Oh, yes, I mean, it's not like Lily's innocent, she's shot back at Petunia her fair amount of times, but you know Lily, she's all defense attacks, if any," Alice snorted, and Alma laughed.

"I bet they'd be vicious though," she said, and Alice laughed.

"You just have to ask James about that, he faced the brunt of them," she winked, and Alma grinned as Alice knocked on Lily's door, "Darling! I have some news for you!"

"That this dress is stupid?" Lily's voice called, and Alice rolled her eyes, subtly whipping out her wand and unlocking the door, "Alice!" Lily squealed, attempting to push the door shut, but Alice managed to push it open, admitting both Alma and herself.

"It doesn't look so bad," Alma mused, looking Lily up and down, and Lily huffed.

"I can't breathe, my boobs are squashed, and it would probably take me an hour to walk down the aisle," she grumbled, pushing her long hair out of her face, and Alma bit her lip. Alice laughed. Loud.

"Well at least you have boob the squish," she beamed, and Lily rolled her eyes, turning away from them.

"Unzip it will you? I think I'll go take a look at the racks myself," Lily said, and Alice dutifully reached forwards and unzipped it, "At least it's closer to what I wanted. What's your news?"

Alice hesitated, before sighing, resigned, "Petunia's here."

Lily froze, her eyes nervously flickering to Alma. Alice rolled her eyes, "I told her everything," she said, and Lily sighed, nodding, "Thought if she was going to be a part of this travesty she couldn't simply be caught in the crossfire, unawares."

"It's rude to send troops into battle unarmed," Alma agreed, nodding, and Lily snorted, shooting the girl an amused look in the mirror, "your Mum's hissing at her."

"Typical," Lily chuckled, stepping out of the dress and reaching for her clothes, hanging up on a peg, pulling the top over her head, "Mum thinks shoving us together is going to fix everything."

"You can't be so hard on her," Alma said, shrugging, "It must be hard having your children dislike each other."

"Yeah I suppose," Lily grumbled, pulling on her jeans and turning around, "Come on, let's go face the drama."

"Is that code for Petunia?" Alice asked, and Lily rolled her eyes, shoving her best friend out of the cubicle as Alma snickered.

"I like it," Alma piped in, and Lily rolled her eyes, fighting a smile, "The Drama. Has a certain sense of ominousness to it, don't you think?"

"Very theatrical," Alice agreed, and Lily shoved them both, eliciting another round of giggles. They made their way out of the back rooms to see Petunia was nowhere in sight. Jane looked surprised to see Lily in her street clothes.

"What happened?" Jane asked, alarmed, and Lily shrugged.

"Thought I'd give the racks a look myself," she said with an easy smile, and Jane nodded, lips pursed, "what's the matter?"

"Your sister's here," she said, nodding towards the racks near the windows, "She's very upset."

"Er, why?" Lily asked, frowning. Jane sighed and shook her head, nodding towards the racks.

"Go find a dress darling," she said with a forced smile. Lily frowned and opened her mouth to say more, but Alma grabbed her hand, distracting her.

"I found that dress in that area, maybe the ones with that cut are back there?" she suggested, giving Lily a pointed look. Lily gazed back at her for a second before nodding.

"Lovely," Jane said, beckoning Alice over, "darling why don't you and I look over here?" she said, gesturing towards some of the racks away from both Petunia and Lily. Alice frowned, but nodded nonetheless, following Jane over to the respective rack, "Now Alice dear, I know you and Lily are the best of friends, and she tells you absolutely everything," Jane said after a moment of sifting through dresses, and Alice nodded slowly, unsure of where this was going, "And I need to know the truth about this."

When Jane didn't continue, Alice said, "Of course Mrs. Evans. What is it?"

"Did she receive an invitation from Petunia?" Jane asked, turning her sharp eyes on Alice, as if examining her face for any sign of dishonestly. Alice frowned.

"What invitation?" she asked, and Jane's brows furrowed.

"For her engagement party."

"Petunia's engaged?" Alice asked, eyebrows high on her forehead. At Jane's blank expression, Alice shook her head, "Lily's never mentioned it. I don't think she knows," she said. She took a step back, alarmed, as Jane began to weep quietly, shaking her head, "Mrs. Evans! I'm so- should I go get Lily?"

"No," Jane sniffed, wiping at her eyes, "No darling that's not necessary, I just, Petunia said she was upset Lily hadn't RSVP'd, which is why she came so late as an act of spite. But if she didn't even send Lily the invitation, that means she didn't want her to come, which means she lied to me and just didn't want to come help her own sister pick out her wedding dress," Jane continued, shaking her head, "I know my girls. Lily's not the sort to do anything so underhand and vindictive. I know she'll go to Petunia's party," she sniffed, and Alice nodded slowly, putting her hand gently on Jane's shoulder, "I just never thought my girls would end up this way."

"I'm sorry," Alice murmured, and Jane sniffed, nodding her head.

"And don't think I don't know about everything that's happened over the years," she added, wiping away some more fresh tears, "I know about all the times Lily tried to write Petunia, and I know Petunia threw the unopened letters away. But I also know Petunia," she said, turning to Alice with earnest eyes, "she's hard-headed but she's acting out of hurt. She missed Lily something awful when she left. I think she took it as a personal betrayal, abandonment, especially when Lily got engaged. She sees it as Lily choosing magic over her."

"But it's who she is, she can't give up magic any easier than Petunia can learn it," Alice argued, defending her friend, and Jane smiled, patting Alice on the cheek.

"I know, you're right. You're a good sister to her," Jane sniffed, turning away, "Thank God she at least has one."

"Is Petunia going to talk to her?" Alice asked after a moment, her eyes darting to where she could see a blond head disinterestedly sifting through a bridal magazine.

"I doubt it," Jane said, shaking her head, "I gave up interfering in their lives a while ago. Once in a while, I have my moments of weakness though. Like today," she said, smiling sadly at Alice, "A girl should be involved in her sisters wedding."

"A girl also shouldn't be the cause for sorrow at a sisters wedding," Alice said, and Jane sniffed, nodding.

"You're right, of course you're right. Go on, I doubt Alma and Lily alone can manage anything without you," she chuckled breathlessly, ushering Alice away. Alice gave her a sympathetic smile and made to move away, when Jane gasped, "Oh Alice! Isn't this beautiful?" she asked, pulling out a bridesmaid dress from behind her. Alice took one look at it and beamed, reaching out to finger the coral blue material.

"It's very Lily."

"Mum!" Lily's voice squeaked, and Jane turned quickly towards the source. She gasped, hands coming up to cover her mouth as Lily stepped out of the fitting room area, followed by a wet-eyed, grinning Alma.

Alice squealed loudly, jumping up and down, clapping her hands, as Alma helped Lily up onto the pedestal. Even Petunia looked up from her magazine for a moment, to give her sister a once over, looking back down with a decidedly less sour expression on her face.

The dress was beautiful. Stark white, it flowed down Lily's body in a trumpet cut, flaring out elegantly from her mid thigh. The off the shoulder sleeves were of floral lace, the design extending to delicately peek around the top of the bust, the design continuing down the sides of Lily's back, outlining her upper back and meeting in the middle where the sheer material met the white fabric which covered the rest of her body. The flower motif was further embroidered around the waist, trailing off south into the fabric of the skirt. It landed softly by her feet, the back pooling slightly to form a short train.

"Oh Lily," Jane sobbed, sitting down on the closest pouffe and looking up at her daughter with wide eyes, "you look so beautiful."

"I was thinking the hair could go up," Lily said, looking at her reflection in awe, "A few strands maybe framing the face. And the veil would obviously be there as well," she trailed off, running her fingers over the bodice, "what do you think?" she asked, turning to Alma, who beamed back at her.

"I think we're done here," Alice said after a moment, and Lily squealed.

* * *

"This has officially been the longest day ever," Sirius groaned, as the four Marauders finally arrived back in the flat, each holding a garment bag.

"Can we put these in your room Pads?" James asked, gently hanging his garment bag on the back of one of the chairs, "I don't want Lily to see it."

"It's in a bag," Peter sniggered, helping Remus to his bed, as he was feeling especially weak.

"That's not the point," James mimicked, and Peter smirked as Remus rolled his eyes.

"Yes, fine, I've enough space," Sirius said, grabbing James' garment bag by the hanger and walking towards the innards of the flat, "yes, I'll come back for yours too," he drawled, as both Remus and Peter looked hopefully towards him, "Best remember which ones belong to you."

"We'll write our names on them," Remus whispered, his voice raspy. Peter nodded, grabbing his wand and writing their respective names on the other two garment bags, "James' is the only one that's different. The nameless one is Sirius'."

"Marvelous plan," James said, hurrying into the kitchen and pulling out the food they had ready for Remus to eat before going to his parents' to transform, "Wormtail, help Moony to the table, I'll just heat this up."

"The fuck did you let me help him into bed then," Peter muttered under his breath, helping the snickering Remus into the closest chair.

"Thanks," Remus coughed, and Peter nodded, his worried eyes helping Remus sit steady.

"When's Lily back?" Peter called to James, who poked his head out of the kitchen, "Think Moony needs her to cast that spell again."

"That would be nice," Remus hummed, and James chuckled.

"Should be any minute. She said she'd make it back before we took you. Not to mention she'll have to leave for her shift as well," he said, and Peter nodded, "Luckily she won't be alone, Alma made sure to reschedule as well so she could help Lily shop today."

"Nice of her," Remus rasped, and Peter nodded. As if on cue, Lily arrived with a _pop_ , relief evident on her face as she saw Remus.

"I'm so glad I made it on time," she said, hurrying over to him and casting the spell before he even had to ask. He gave her a dreamy smile and she kissed him atop the head, "When are you heading off?"

"Not too long," Remus said, coughing violently, and Lily nodded, seating herself in the chair next to him. James hurried out of the kitchen and placed the plate of food in front of Remus, along with a glass of pumpkin juice. He shot Lily a quick grin.

"How was your day?"

"Effective," she said with a grin, and James beamed, "yours?"

"Ditto," he said, and Remus smiled.

"Happy with your dress Lil?" he asked, and Lily beamed at him. He chuckled once more, "Suppose that's my answer."

"Tackled the bridesmaids dresses as well," she said, grabbing James' hand as he sat down next to her and giving it a squeeze, "They're coral blue-"

"I don't think any of us know the difference between coral blue and other blues," Sirius sniggered as he sauntered into the room, winking at Lily, who stuck her tongue out at him.

"Well I'm going to tell you anyway so you might as well behave," she said, and Sirius smirked, lowering himself into the free seat as Peter and Remus snickered, "So as I said, coral blue, strapless-"

Sirius let out a loud groan, "Merlin I fucking _love_ strapless dresses, the birds are all half naked from the tits up."

Lily flushed violently and shot Sirius a scolding look as James hid a laugh, "I assure you all the _women_ and their _breasts_ will be covered," she said. Sirius sent her a devilish grin.

"We all got our robes as well," Peter said, and Lily grinned.

"Yeah, so you two can up and wed any time you like, we'll all look fucking fantastic regardless," Sirius said, and Remus rolled his eyes as Lily laughed.

"Did Petunia make it?" James asked, frowning as Lily's expression fell dramatically, "Lily?"

"I don't want to talk about it," she bit, and James' eyebrows rose as he exchanged a look with Sirius. Remus looked somber.

"You okay?" he asked, and Lily shot him an annoyed look.

"I _said_ I didn't want to talk about it," she said harshly, and Remus nodded. Lily sighed, "Sorry, I didn't mean to bite your head off, I just-"

"Lil, it's fine," James said, rubbing her shoulder comfortingly as Remus smiled at her encouragingly.

"On a positive note, you should know James isn't planning on slicking his hair back for the big day," Sirius said after a moment, grinning at Lily, who bit her lip as James squawked indignantly.

"Why do you always feel the need to bring that up?" he whined, and Sirius grinned wolfishly.

"Because I can."

"And I hope you've made plans regarding your hair, because we spent a very long time on Prongs' today," Peter grumbled, rolling his eyes, and Lily laughed.

"That was all Mum," James muttered irritably, rolling his eyes, "it's been eighteen bloody years, you think by now she'd have come to terms with the fact that it just grows like this," he sniffed, and Lily giggled. James looked down at his watch and sighed, slowly turning to meet Remus' eye.

"Remus, mate, are you _sure_?" Sirius asked one last time, his voice sounding desperate. Remus turned to him, a small smile on his face, "Wormtail scouted out a forest not too far from here while Prongs and I were at work, just in case," he said, and Peter nodded, worried eyes focused on Remus.

"I'm sure," Remus managed, clearing his throat and wincing at the pain.

"Let's do this then," James said after a moment, he and Lily standing up. He reached for Remus' hand, and helped the werewolf to his feet. Sirius and Peter followed. Lily stepped forwards and pulled Remus into a gentle hug.

"I'll see you in the morning," she murmured, pulling back and grinning up at him, and he pulled her into a hug again, "The ward is on the first floor. Figure I'm better off telling you than them," she added with an eye roll, and Remus chuckled.

"My memory isn't that shoddy," James grumbled, crossing his arms and Lily pulled back from Remus with another grin, "and stop hugging him. Fucks sake, you'll see him in the morning."

"Captain sensitivity, everyone," Lily giggled, kissing her boyfriend on the cheek as Remus smirked, "There's no need to be jealous James. I already have a dress, can't back out now."

"You can wear it for the next one if you change your mind," Sirius sniggered, and James shot him an amused look as Lily laughed.

"There's the silver lining I was looking for," she said dramatically, pinching James' cheek and turning to Remus with a grin.

"Thank you," Remus said, and Lily rolled her eyes, waving off his thanks and taking a step back. They'd decided already that she'd stay here and get ready for her shift, while the boys dropped him off. Full moon had always been their thing anyway, and she didn't want to take that away from them.

"Who's going to side along me?" Remus rasped, looking around, and James grinned, offering his hand to Remus.

"Figure it's only fair, you've had to side along me tons in the past," he said, and Remus rolled his eyes, smirking, as he gripped onto James' hand, "And we all know I'm your best option as it is."

"Oi!" Sirius and Peter squawked, and Remus rolled his eyes.

"I don't even want to think about what the flat's going to look like with both of us out for the night," he snorted, gesturing between himself and Lily. The boys made noises of protest as latter laughed.

"I'll put a shield charm around your area, Remus," she said, and he grinned at her.

"That's all I ask," he chuckled, before taking a deep breath and nodding at James, "I'm ready, let's go."

* * *

"How did it go?" Lily asked, as Sirius wandered into hers and James' bedroom. She'd changed into her Healer robes and put her hair up in an intricate braided bun, so it would last until the morning.

"As you'd expect," he mumbled, sadly sitting down on the edge of the bed, "Helped him down into the cellar. It's fucking nasty down there," he said, pulling at a loose thread in the bedspread, "Couldn't walk away. Prongs dragged me out."

"You did the right thing," she said gently, smiling at him over her shoulder, "it's what he wanted."

"I don't like it," Sirius muttered, and Lily sighed. They were silent for a few moments as Sirius watched her tie up her shoes, "You don't usually wear those."

"I do for night shifts," she sighed, pulling the other one on, "They usually entail a lot of running around."

"I'd have thought nights were calmer," he mused, and she shrugged.

"They are, but there are also less staff so the few of us that are actually there have to be prepared for anything and run between wards," she said, and Sirius grimaced.

"Nightmare."

"Tell me about it," she chuckled, "Where are the others?"

"James and Pete? They went to get some more hot chocolate," he said, and Lily smiled, "Remus goes through it like mad before and after the full moon. We had to take to stashing some in our dormitory," he said with a smile, and Lily chuckled.

"I'd have thought Remus' chocolate stash was extensive enough."

"It is," he snorted, shaking his head in amusement, "but he's very anal about drinking hot chocolate during full moon. Says it fulfills the benefits of both chocolate and tea."

Lily hummed, standing up and stretching her arms over her head, "I'm too knackered for this," she sighed, sitting down on the bed next to Sirius, and biting her lip.

"Dress shopping that much of a pain, eh?" he chuckled, and Lily sighed, nodding, "like the dress?"

"Love it, it's exactly what I wanted," she said, smiling slightly as she continued to look down into her lap, "Decided it was probably best to leave it at Mum and Dad's, you know what James is like, he won't be able to resist taking a peek," she grinned, and Sirius snorted, shaking his head fondly

"True," he chuckled, and Lily nodded, her smile falling slightly. He turned to her with a frown. "You all right, love? You seem down," he said, hesitantly placing his hand on her shoulder.

"Petunia drama," she sighed, dropping her head and closing her eyes tight. Sirius squeezed her shoulder, "I can't believe she managed to make me cry on what was such an exciting day," she sniffed, and Sirius' eyebrows flew up.

"What did that bitch do?" he asked, and Lily let out a breathy laugh, wiping at her eyes.

"Nothing," she sniffed, and Sirius cocked a dubious brow at her.

"I think we're too far past the 'nothing' excuse, doesn't really work when you're crying," he added, rolling his eyes, and Lily sniffed again.

"I'll remember that for next time," she choked, and Sirius chuckled, placing his arm around her and pulling her to him, so she rested her head on his shoulder.

"Come on, talk to Sirius," he cooed, and she snorted.

"You know I can't stand it when you say that," she coughed, laughing as she wiped away a few more tears, "How can anyone be serious when you sound so ridiculous?"

"It's called lightening the mood, Evans," he tutted, patting her atop the head. Lily rolled her eyes, resting her head more snugly on his shoulder. "I can go get Prongs for you, if you want."

"I just don't like talking about her," Lily sighed, closing her eyes, "It always puts me in a mood. Also I don't feel like crying today, and I don't want to go to work looking like I've been crying," she added, and Sirius sighed.

"Yeah, siblings can do that to you," he said after a moment, and Lily nodded sadly, "You two used to be close, yeah?"

"Like twins," she chuckled, turning to look up at him, "You were like that with Regulus, weren't you?"

Sirius nodded, "Reg and I used to do everything together. He used to copy me, drove me nuts," he snorted, and Lily chuckled.

"I was like that with Petunia. I just wanted to be her when I was little," she shook her head, wiping at her eyes, "Funny how things turn out, isn't it?"

"I think jacked up is the term you're looking for," he snorted, and Lily rolled her eyes.

"I would never stoop so low as to use that kind of language," she said, clucking her tongue, and Sirius guffawed.

"I've heard you use some foul language in my day Evans," he teased.

"Hearsay," she sniffed, and Sirius laughed, "You can't prove it." They were silent for a few moments, when Lily sighed and looked down at her watch, "Time to go," she said, standing up and turning to smile at Sirius, "Try and get some sleep tonight yeah? Don't stay up all night worrying," she said, and Sirius rolled his eyes, waving her away, "and tell the others the same thing."

"Just go already, Nagging Nancy," he smirked, "suppose I don't need Reg when I have you to be a pain in my arse."

"I'm flattered," she deadpanned, rolling her eyes, and Sirius grinned, "I suppose abandoned siblings have to find others."

"You'll make me vomit saying things like that," he scoffed, and she winked at him. He barked a laugh, "You're mad Evans, go to work."

"Love you too Sirius," she giggled, shooting him one last grin before leaving,

* * *

"Did she leave already?" James asked, hurrying into his bedroom, to find Sirius asleep on the bed, "Sirius? Sirius. _Padfoot_ ," he grumbled, prodding at him. Sirius sat up with a yelp, glaring at James through bleary eyes.

"What?" he whined, flopping back down, "I was asleep."

"I could see that," James snorted, looking around, his face dropping when he realized she'd already left, "when did she leave?"

"About twenty minutes ago," Sirius yawned, stretching his arms above his head, eyes still closed, "Not before lecturing me about getting some sleep," he said, opening one eye to give James a pointed look. James rolled his eyes, throwing himself down on the bed, sitting down and causing Sirius to bounce slightly, "What's the matter with you? Where's Wormtail?"

"Kitchen," James said, sighing as he rested his chin in his hands, "I feel awful, I wanted to be back so I talk to her about why she was so upset before she left."

"The fuck took you so long?"

"It was crowded as fuck, had to wait ages to pay," he said, pressing the balls of his palm into his eyes until he saw stars, "Did she tell you why she was so upset?"

"Not specifics. Just that Petunia did something," Sirius said, pushing himself up onto his elbows and yawning, "Said she didn't want to talk about it. I got the impression the bitch made her cry though," he added bitterly, and James groaned.

"She's a monster, she is," James muttered, "at least Alice was there, she's apparently really good with all the Petunia stuff," he added, standing up and helping Sirius to his feet, "Come on, I'm starving."

* * *

"Hello darling," Alma grinned as Lily hurried into the Healers chambers, depositing her bag in her locker, "Long time no see."

"You're weird today," Lily chuckled, grinning at Alma over her shoulder, "I don't think Alice is good for you."

"She's a fucking lunatic, that one," Alma snorted fondly, handing Lily an apple. Lily cocked a brow at her, "Figured you'd need an energy boost," she said pointedly and Lily flushed.

"Yeah, I'm, um, I'm sorry about that," she said awkwardly, and Alma rolled her eyes.

"If my sibling was that bitchy I'd have shed a few tears as well," she shrugged, and Lily smiled at her, taking the apple.

"I hope you didn't have too rough a time, with Alice," Lily added, and Alma laughed as the two of them began to make their way out of the chambers.

"I like her, bizarrely enough," she said, and Lily laughed.

"She's one of those people," Lily agreed, taking a bite of the apple, and Alma snorted in agreement, "We met because she walked over to me to gush about my hair," Lily grinned, and Alma laughed.

"Sounds very Alice," she nodded, "The girl is without boundaries."

"I take it you were interrogated about Owen," Lily giggled, and Alma rolled her eyes, flushing.

"I'm just glad he's not here tonight, don't think I could have looked him in the eye," she said, shaking her head, "Alice can asks some really intrusive questions."

"Oh yeah," Lily nodded with a laugh, "you should've seen her when James and I first started to see each other. She kept writing letters asking me to describe what snogging him was like. Used to give me parchment limits and everything, it was madness."

Alma guffawed, "I'd love to see those letters," she said, wagging her brows, and Lily rolled her eyes, shoving at the giggling brunette, "Did you stick to the word limits?"

"I didn't write them," Lily snorted, and Alma pouted, "Sorry to disappoint."

"Speaking of disappointment," Alma said, and Lily smirked, "What did your beau say about your sister?"

"Didn't get to tell him," Lily sighed, shaking her head, "he was out. Sirius cornered me though."

"Oh that must have been helpful," Alma snorted sarcastically, and Lily smiled at her.

"It was actually. He can relate," she said simply, and Alma's eyes widened with surprise. She shook her head, scowling.

"Every time I talk to you he seems more like a person. It's very irritating," she said, and Lily laughed, throwing her arm around Alma and hugging her.

"What's funny is I reckon the two of you would actually get along if you could put your dramas aside. You're very alike," Lily said, and Alma rolled her eyes, shoving her away.

"All right, I admitted he was human. That's enough progress for one day," she said, and Lily laughed, "Where are you going?" she asked, frowning, as Lily began to climb another flight of stairs to the First floor, "we always report to the emergency ward first."

"I just need to check on a few things," Lily said, and Alma cocked a brow at her.

"Don't lie to me, Evans," she tutted, before following Lily up the stairs. Lily expelled an exasperated sigh, "Where are you sneaking off to?"

"I need to go look into booking a ward every month," she said, and Alma frowned. Lily could see her brain whirring behind her intelligent eyes, and inwardly groaned as they lit up.

"Every month," she said slowly, turning to frown at Lily, "In this ward," she murmured, continuing to stare imploringly at the redhead. She grabbed her arm and pulled her to a halt, "What? On this date? Who do you know what's a werewolf?" she lowered her voice to a whisper, and Lily groaned.

"Alma, why do you always have to hit right on the mark?" she grumbled, and Alma rolled her eyes.

"Lily, come on."

"You're a pain in my arse, Bancroft," Lily muttered. Alma continued to stare at her, "It's one of my friends, all right? You'll find out in the morning I'm sure, when they bring him in," Lily said, eyes wrinkling sadly as she once more thought of poor Remus, all alone in a basement.

"Is it James?"

" _No_ ," Lily sighed, and Alma held her hands up.

"All right, I was just checking. Figured you'd need emotional support if it was your fiancé," she said, and Lily rolled her eyes, fighting a smile, "I would have offered my services as friend, even a shoulder to cry on, though I guarantee that task would have been done reluctantly."

"Your sensitivity is humbling."

"I'm sure," Alma quipped with a wink, and Lily laughed, "How about I go and check in with whichever Healer's in charge in the emergency ward, and get our instructions for this shift, while you go deal with your secret werewolf?"

"Thanks," Lily snorted, shaking her head fondly as, with a wink, Alma tottered off back down the stairs, her ponytail bobbing happily. Lily turned back towards the First floor ward and, with a deep breath, made her way up to the wards' reception desk to speak to the Healer on call, "Er, hi," she said, to get the woman's attention. To her surprise, the same Healer who had approached her in the library when she'd been looking up spells turned and greeted her. The Healer's face had a similar expression of surprise, but quickly transformed into a welcoming smile.

"Hello dear," she said, walking towards Lily, "What can I help you with?"

"I'm so sorry to interrupt," Lily said, gesturing to the papers the Healer seemed to have been sorting through prior to her arrival. When the Healer waved off her concern, Lily continued, "I actually wanted to look into whether it would be possible to book a private ward for someone I know with lycanthropy for the rest of the year?"

The Healer smirked, "Efficient, aren't you?" she chuckled, ducking down and pulling out a large appointment book from below the desk, "I can't guarantee you'll find private wards, a lot of our wards are booked years in advance, particularly when the lycanthropes are children, their parents book it for as long as they can. Our policy is usually no longer than five years of advance bookings, as, with lycanthropes, unfortunately there's no guarantee they'll survive childhood," she said, a somber expression on her face, "Some children don't survive the wounds they inflict upon themselves when transformed." Lily remained frozen in silent horror while the woman opened up the appointment book. Her eyes scanned the page before she looked up at Lily with a gentle smile, "Seems it's your lucky day, Miss…"

"Evans," Lily supplied with a grin.

"Miss Evans, then. There are, fortunately, a handful of private wards available over the next few months, not including the ones we reserve for children, they always get private wards so that their parents can spend the night, although many prefer to remain in the comforts of their own home and instead call a Healer home to heal the children," she added, "So it seems I can book for your friend a private ward over the next three full moons. Unfortunately the two months following that only the semi-private ones are available, but following that we can assure the rest of the year your friend receives a private ward," she said, and Lily beamed.

"I'd like to book them now, if that's all right?" she asked, and the Healer nodded, pulling out her wand and tapping all the relevant spaces in her book.

"Patients' name?"

"Remus Lupin," Lily said, "I've already booked a semi-private ward for him for tonight," she added, and the Healer nodded. She flipped the page back and upon spotting Remus' name, tapped it with her wand. Lily's eyes widened as all the previous spaces she'd tapped instantly filled in with Remus' name.

"There you go, petal," the Healer said, smiling gently down at Lily, "All you'll have to do is bring him to the ward, the staff will be able to direct you to the relevant ward when necessary," she said, and Lily gave her a grateful smile. Before Lily could thank her and leave however, she continued, "You're one of the new trainees, am I right?"

"Yes," Lily said politely, "Only started a few months ago."

"Hell of a time to start," the Healer breathed, shaking her head, before smiling once more, "Well, dear, if you're up for it, I could really use another set of hands in this ward. As you'd imagine, full moon is one of our busiest times," she said, gesturing around at all the empty beds, prepped and ready for the incoming stream of patients. Lily's eyes widened.

"I'd be honoured," she said, nodding, and the Healer smiled.

"Excellent, I'll put your name down on the list then," she said, before holding her hand out, "Wand please, dear? When we need you, it'll vibrate," she said, and Lily's eyebrows flew up as she handed over her wand.

"That's a neat system," Lily said, and the Healer laughed.

"It's set up all over the hospital dear, though I suppose as a trainee you've just followed your supervising Healer. Theirs is the wand that vibrates when they're needed," she said, and Lily nodded, taking her wand back, "We tried owls before, like the Ministry does, but you couldn't imagine the mess. Suffice to say the sanitation levels fell far too low to allow it to continue," she said, shaking her head with a laugh.

"Thank you so much," Lily said, smiling at the woman.

"No dear, thank you. I'll alert the other Healers on call that you've been assigned to this ward, you'll have no issues in overlapping assignments then," she said, and Lily nodded. She bit the woman adieu and, pocketing her wand, headed down to find Alma. She squeaked as Alma almost ran right into her on the stairs.

"Oh, good, you're done," Alma said with a grin, "All sorted?"

"Yes," Lily said, giving her a quick smile, "What are you doing up here? What did they tell you to do tonight?"

"Well as far as they can tell there's not much _to_ do at this point," she said, threading her arm through Lily's and linking their elbows as she frog marched them down the stairs, "So it looks like we're going to be _charting_."

"What joy," Lily deadpanned, and Alma smirked.

"What rapture," Alma played along, and Lily laughed, "Basically we only have something to do if an alarm goes off. Most of the critical patients are in Healer-manned wards," she said, and Lily nodded, "Easy night shift for once, eh?"

"The bad guys need a night off once in a while," Lily agreed, and Alma chuckled, "The Healer up there put me on call for when all the lycanthropes come in in the morning," she said in a forced casual voice, and Alma nodded.

"Let me know if you need any help," she said, and Lily smiled, grateful her friend took the hint that she didn't want to be pushed on the subject, "Especially when your friend comes in, that won't be easy for you," she said, and Lily sighed, shaking her head.

"It's just awful, I hate that he goes through it," she said, and Alma grimaced, "not to mention all the other nonsense."

"Tell me about it," Alma said, rolling her eyes. Lily shot her a confused look, and Alma shrugged, "I had a great uncle who was a werewolf. He couldn't get employment anywhere, because obviously he had to disclose his condition, and he was so awful to everyone because he was so bitter about his life that he'd alienated almost everyone in the family," she sighed sadly, "Anyway he offed himself about seven years ago," she said, and Lily grimaced.

"I'm sorry."

"I'd never met him," Alma shrugged, "Mum was distraught though."

They descended the stairs in comfortable silence, each lost in their own thoughts as they made their way to the library, "Let me know when Remus comes in, yeah?" Alma said outside the doors, and Lily gaped. She hurried in after Alma, hissing like an angry goose.

"How do you know? Did you hear me or something?" she hissed, and Alma rolled her eyes.

"Simple process of elimination," she said, and Lily cocked a brow at her as the two took their seats, summoning their stacks of charts from where they'd been depositing them along one side of the wall, "James and Sirius are Auror trainees, it couldn't be them since they're employed, and the Ministry is notorious about not employing werewolves. Which is incredibly backwards if you ask me, because surely they, as an organization that represents the diverse magical world, shouldn't be this bigoted," she sniffed angrily, opening the chart on top of her pile to where she'd left off, "and you don't talk about Peter very much, which made me think you weren't as close with him, so I didn't think you'd be this concerned about him," she finished, and Lily shook her head, fighting a smile.

"You're too clever for your own good," she sighed, shaking her head fondly. Alma smirked.

"Maybe you should stop underestimating me then, bint," she retorted, and Lily giggled, opening up one of her charts and picking up where she'd left off.

* * *

They hadn't spoken in hours.

James, Sirius and Peter sat like stone statues at the dining table, abandoned mugs of tea and coffee sitting in front of them, ice cold now. The only sound in the small flat was the ticking of the clock placed above the dining table, three pairs of eyes staring at it, waiting for the moment to strike when they would apparate to the Lupins' place.

They'd attempted conversation a few times, about something or the other, neither of them could remember, nor could they have been bothered to contribute. All they could think about was their friend, lying in a cold cellar. They'd spent the entire night in despair; tears had been shed, words had been shouted, furniture had been broken around the time full moon struck. It wasn't until Peter had collapsed in tears, that they managed to maintain some semblance of calm. They'd repaired all the furniture, made themselves some tea, and sat in silence, each lost in the timeline of Remus' transformation, wondering what he'd be doing now.

They couldn't stand the thoughts.

He'd probably been in excruciating pain, his parents would have heard him screaming and crying as the full moon hit, before his pleasant, comforting voice morphed into an awful roar. Mr. Lupin's blue eyes, so like his sons, would have glazed over in tears, before he grabbed the neck of the bottle of firewhiskey they'd seen on his table and isolated himself in the attic, the furthest away from Remus' screams. Mrs. Lupin would be in the kitchen, her hair, a shade darker than Remus', up in a tight bun, humming to herself as she cleaned up the dishes, trying to ignore the thumping and growling from beneath her feet. Their routine was set; they had, after all, been doing this for over fourteen years now.

By now, the werewolf would have attacked himself enough, would have searched the entire cellar for food, and for a way out. He would be tired, and would be lying curled in a ball, whimpering as every twitch aggravated another injury.

One of the Mungos owls had flown in, how long ago, neither of them could have pinpointed, with Lily's note telling them the name of the ward, the directions from Mungos reception, and assuring them she'd booked Remus one for the rest of the year. She'd reminded them to try and get some sleep, but upon reading that, Sirius had simply snorted, balled up the note, and gone back to staring at the clock.

"Ten minutes," James' finally croaked, his voice thick from having not been used in a long time, his red eyes shifting from the clock to his companion's faces for the first time in hours. His neck was stiff, and his arse was numb from having remained in the same position for so long. He stretched his legs slightly, cringing internally as they shrieked in protest, "We better get ready. We'll have to go to work straight from there." He targeted the last sentence at Sirius, who grimaced but nodded all the same.

"Prepare yourselves," Sirius sighed, shaking his head as he pushed himself up from the chair, wincing as he rolled out his joints, "it's not going to be pretty."

* * *

 _Help_.

 _Help me._

He felt like he'd been screaming for hours, when in reality he'd only returned to himself mere minutes ago, and probably wasn't making a sound. It was pitch black in the cellar, but his eyes had adjusted already; his lycanthropy made seeing in the dark easier for him, but he kept his eyes shut. Remus whimpered as he sensation hit him; the cold air in the cellar, arctic against his raw, sensitive, naked skin; the earth shattering pain in his bones, which had been stretched and bent for his werewolf form; the screaming in his muscles and joints as he merely thought to move them. The soles of his feet were red, raw, covered in scrapes from the harsh floor.

He let out a keening noise, tears seeping out of his eyes, which were clenched shut, as he pulled his legs in closer into his chest, huddling for warmth that wouldn't come. The cold felt more intense after his transformations, as it always did, the effect of having had fur and lost it. He'd taken his clothes off prior to his transformation, as always, but they were too far away. He couldn't even turn his head to look towards them.

Everything was too far away.

"Shit," he cried, ducking his head towards his knees as his body wracked with heaving sobs. He attempted to hold them back, opening his eyes, only to find himself staring at his own mangled foot, noticing the telling teeth marks marring the middle, dragging outwards in stark red lines, peeling the skin and muscle off as it went. There were claw marks on his torso and all the way up and down his legs.

As far as he could see, it had been a very bad night.

"Mum," he whimpered, his voice barely louder than a whisper, "Dad!"

Nobody came. He was used to it when he came home. His dad had probably passed out, shit face drunk at some point in the night up in the attic. Remus never saw him before late afternoon the days after the full moon. His mother was probably locked in a bathroom, mentally preparing herself to come and see what state he'd be in. He knew their routine. It didn't help him in the slightest.

Not for the first time since the doors to the cellar locked, he wished the boys were here. James would have spoke to him in a soothing tone while the first waves of his transformation hit, distracting him from his horrible pain as best as he could. James would have made sure to cover him the second he turned human, because of the cold and the sensitivity, and so he wouldn't see any wounds he'd inflicted on himself. Sirius would have stayed standing by his side, holding his hand for far too long. Sirius would've had to be pulled away by James, lest he were too close when Remus actually transformed. Sirius would have barged in the second he had returned to his human form, probably with a warm mug of hot chocolate. Peter always made sure he was never alone, squeaking alongside him both on his way to, and on the way back from the Whomping Willow, whether Remus was conscious or not. He would have sweet-talked Madam Pomfrey into letting them all in early; she'd always liked him best.

He wished Lily were here. She'd never been present during their full moon rituals, Remus knew she'd wanted to keep the Marauder traditions alive, and had kept herself away for that reason, so James wouldn't be distracted. He wished she were here now, with her gentle hands and her kind eyes. She'd probably brush his hair back from his forehead, and her eyes would scan all his wounds. She'd probably pull her wand out and start healing him then and there; she didn't seem able to help herself when one of them needed healing. She'd probably keep the potentially agitated James and Sirius in line, they were always overreacting to his injuries; she was good at that.

He thought so hard about his friends, he could almost hear their voices; full of their characteristic stubbornness, Sirius' with his usual bite of snark, enough to want to make anyone strangle him. As the voices got louder, Remus opened his eyes, frowning slightly.

Then he smiled.

He could hear their voices getting nearer. His mother was shrieking at them, something about safety and 'give him a few minutes'. He could hear Peter start sweet-talking her, could almost see the way he'd place his hand on her arm and lead her away from the cellar, without her ever realizing he was doing such a thing. Now he could hear James and Sirius, so close, right on the other side of the cellar door. He whimpered once more as he turned his head slightly, so he could watch them as they came in. There was a lot of banging, a lot of Sirius swearing angrily and James snapping back at him.

"The chains," he whispered, desperately wanting them to hear him, but he knew they wouldn't. He couldn't even see the shadows of their feet; no light entered this cellar. There were no windows, and his parents had made sure none seeped in from under the door, so he wouldn't know his way out as a wolf.

"Oh _fuck it_!"

That was Sirius, and a moment later, with a large bang, the cellar door blasted off its' hinges, the doors flying open. Remus shut his eyes tight as the light flooded in, knowing he wasn't ready to look into it. He knew the light was shining right down on him, and heard their muted swears and gasps as they hurried down the stairs.

"Shit."

This one was James. He felt the familiar cloak, smelt the familiar smell, as James wrapped it around his naked body, tucking him in tight.

"Get his clothes," James whispered to Sirius. They knew his ears were still too sensitive; they never yelled after the full moon. Remus heard movement, as Sirius presumably did so, and whimpered, "it's okay, it's okay."

This was James too. Remus winced slightly as James hesitantly placed his hand on Remus' shoulder. Even though the cloak, it was too much for him to bear. He whimpered, and James removed his hand.

"Come on Moony." It was Sirius this time, "Prongs, shut the door will you? We can't take him to Mungos starkers."

"Sensitive," Remus said, though it came out as a whisper. He heard Sirius snort, and heard James' footsteps hurry up the stairs to shut the door. The reddish hue that appeared on the back of his eyelids let him know that they had at least thought to cast a _Lumos_.

"Come on Moony, we need you to sit up," James whispered, and Remus whimpered. He took a moment to brace himself, before opening his eyes, blinking a few times as he adjusted to the bright light. James winced as he met his eyes, "Come on mate, we need a bit of help to get you clothed."

Remus closed his eyes and started to push himself up. His body shook with keening sobs as his friends helped him into a seated position, "It's okay, deep breaths," Sirius murmured, holding Remus upright as James carefully pulled his top onto his torso. Remus groaned as the material stung his open wounds.

"Sorry," James winced, before nodding at Sirius.

"Okay, ready Moony? Come on, big breath in," Sirius said, allowing Remus the time to comply, before sweeping him up into a standing position in one swift move. Remus yelled out, but didn't fight them off as James lifted one, then the other leg, pulling his boxers on, "Deep breaths, come on, just a few more seconds," Sirius continued, his arms underneath Remus' armpits, touching as little of the boy as he could while simultaneously holding him up, "Okay, pants now, ready?"

James repeated his movements, pulling Remus' joggers back on. Remus noticed for the first time that his clothes were warm, rather than the ice-cold temperature of the cellar.

"Thanks," he croaked. James sighed, his sad eyes looking into Remus' bloodshot ones.

"All right, let's get moving," James said, moving so he was on Remus' other side. Sirius shifted slightly, so they could each pull one of Remus' arms over their shoulders. They were taller than he was, and each put an arm around Remus' waist, lifting him off the floor as they hurried up the stairs. Remus pressed his lips tight, but the whimpers escaped nonetheless.

They got him to the top of the stairs. Remus looked around, and was glad to see that Peter had managed to get his mother in another room, and was now standing patiently, waiting for them. Peter's blue eyes widened, and his jaw dropped as he took one look at Remus.

"I'll apparate ahead, tell Lily we're coming," he said, and the two others nodded as Peter vanished on the spot, his expression one of alarm.

"We should each get an arm under his legs," James said, and Sirius nodded, the two turning slightly so they were angled well enough to lift Remus' legs, wincing as he let out another whimper. They had him held up as if he were sitting in a chair now, keeping his raw feet away from the floor.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry," Sirius murmured, wincing as Remus' mangled foot came to his attention for the first time, "Fuck Moony," he breathed, his eyes fixated on it. James followed his eyes and gaped.

"Help," Remus whimpered, and the two exchanged an alarmed look before gripping him tighter.

"Okay, get ready Moony, we're going to apparate, okay?" James said gently, as if speaking to a child, and Remus whimpered, "Padfoot?"

Whether or not Sirius was ready, Remus didn't know. When they turned on the spot, his last feeling was that of relief; he was with his friends again, he'd be fine.

* * *

"Lily!"

She turned quickly to see Peter run in through the main doors, panting, "What is it?" she asked, hurrying over to him from where she was sitting on one of the waiting room chairs. Having seen that it was time for Remus to have changed back, she'd excused herself from the First Floor ward, where two other werewolves had already been brought in, to wait for Remus down here, "Where are they?"

"On their way, I just came ahead to make sure you were ready," he said, his eyes wide as they stared at her, "It's," he swallowed, blinking back tears, "It's really bad."

Before Lily could say anything more, James and Sirius made their way through the doorway, supporting an unconscious Remus. Lily gasped, covering her mouth as her eyes travelled from the large gashes on his arms, no doubt from his own claws, to the mangled flesh that was his foot.

"This way!" she beckoned, hurrying towards the staircases, James and Sirius on her heels, Peter bringing up the back, supporting Remus' back so he wouldn't fall backwards. When they arrived at the ward, one of the junior Healers stopped them.

"We have to get him in," James said urgently, and the Healer shook his head.

"I'm sorry, it's very busy in there, we can no longer allow any non Healer's in," he said, before turning to Lily, "You take him in, I trust you know which ward?"

"Yes, okay," she nodded. She opened her mouth to ask for his help, but was cut off as Sirius, having reached his limit, snapped.

"This is my best mate," he growled, glaring harshly at the Healer. James attempted to calm him, but Sirius ignored him, pulling his arm out of James' reach as the boy tried to grab him, "You _will_ let us bring him in and you _will_ move out of my _fucking way_ RIGHT NOW-"

"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to calm down or I'll have you escorted-"

"CALM DOWN?" Sirius roared. He opened his mouth to continue bellowing, but was cut off as Alma Bancroft showed up at his side, grabbing his forearm in a stern hold, smiling kindly at the Healer.

"So sorry about this, Charles, I've got it handled," she said with an easy smile, and the Healer sent Sirius another look, clearly translating to him believing the boy to be mad, before turning away to deal with the next people, "If you're not careful, you'll get kicked out," she hissed at Sirius, who glared at her.

"You don't speak for me," he spat, narrowing his eyes, "The fuck do youwant?" he growled, jerking his arm away from her. Alma blinked, before her eyes narrowed.

"Well, that's a lovely way to thank someone for saving your arse-"

"I don't _need_ your-"

"That's enough," Lily snapped, and Sirius turned his glare at her, "Sirius, James, Peter, go wait over there," she gestured, pointing with her wand at the waiting area outside the ward. When they opened their mouths to protest, all three looking extremely offended, she shut them up with a glare. "Don't be stupid. Alma's right, the more you lot behave like idiots and yell at the staff, the more likely it is you'll get kicked out. And I thought the point of this was so he wouldn't be alone," she said, shooting pointed looks between the three, "Let _us_ take Remus," she said. Alma nodded, pulling out her wand and pointing it at Remus' prone form. After a moment, Remus levitated out of James and Sirius' hold. Sirius turned to Alma, his expression mutinous.

"If anything happens to him-"

"You can blame the Healer working on him," she snapped, and his jaw shut with an audible clap, "I'm only here to help Lily get him in easily. I won't actually be near your friend, so you can relax," she said, and with another glare, turned to make her way into the ward, Remus levitating behind her, "Lily, where are we going?"

"What is the matter with you?" Lily hissed at Sirius, glaring at him. He opened his mouth, but she turned away before he could attempt to defend himself, hurrying after Alma, "There's a ward at the back, green curtains, to the right," she called to her, pulling out her own wand and making sure to keep Remus' body from swaying and bumping into anything while it levitated.

"Come on," James snapped, grabbing Sirius' sleeve and dragging him towards the waiting area, Peter following them silently. He was regarding Sirius warily, knowing the storm hadn't yet passed, "The fuck is your problem? Why are you yelling at Alma? What's she done but help?"

"Fuck off Prongs," Sirius huffed, pulling his sleeve out of the boys' grasp. He shot James another glare before storming off angrily. Peter looked after him, worried.

"He'll be fine, he's just scared," James snorted, sitting down in one of the chairs and putting his feet up on the coffee table. After a moment's hesitation, Peter sat down next to him, mimicking his position, letting out a big sigh.

"Me too," he murmured, and James grimaced. They both turned as Alma headed towards them, an indignant frown marring her pretty face. When she realized there were only two of them, her expression calmed.

"Oh, I had so many witty comebacks ready," she blinked, looking genuinely put out, and James' mouth twitched, "what a waste," she sighed, sitting down in one of the spare chairs. Peter chuckled.

"Sorry about him," James said after a moment, turning to her with an apologetic smile, "He just cares a lot."

"About Remus," Peter added, and Alma snorted.

"I figured that for myself, thanks," she said to Peter, who chuckled again, "Where's he gone? Off to terrorize more innocent people?"

"Unlikely," James chuckled, "He's really not a bad guy, he's just gotten it in his head that he doesn't like you for some reason," he snorted, and Alma laughed.

"Well the feeling is mutual, bad chemistry I suppose," she shrugged, and James frowned, "Don't worry I won't attack him. In case you missed it, _I_ was the one being nice earlier," she said, and James smirked.

"You're shockingly alike."

"Shut up, Lily was saying the same rubbish earlier," she said, waving away his statements with an eye roll, and Peter laughed, "I've said at least two good things about him in the last few days, _and_ I just helped him earlier. I think I deserve some credit for that, thank you very much."

"Noted," James chuckled, yawning hugely. Peter yawned as well, and James smiled at him, "Why don't you go back to the flat and sleep mate? You'll have to come cover for us here while we're at work," he said, and Peter frowned.

"You sure? Surely you should go home first, Remus'll be passed out for hours, and you actually have a busy day ahead."

"I have to stay for Sirius," James said, "someone might as well get some sleep," he added bitterly, and Peter smirked.

"Have fun playing minder," he snickered, and James rolled his eyes as Peter stood up, "all right then, I won't say no to a nap now that I know Remus is all right. Can I come visit later?" he asked Alma, who smiled up at him and nodded.

"Once the madness of all the werewolves arriving passes it'll be easy to get in," she said, and Peter nodded. He waved them both off, before heading towards and down the stairs, "He's nice," she said, and James shrugged, rubbing at his eyes, "you know, if you really want to sleep, I can show you were the Healer chambers are. I'm sure there are some beds in there."

"I'm taken," James smirked, and Alma snorted.

"As am I."

"I heard," James chuckled, reaching up to muss up his hair. They fell into an easy silence for a few moments, when he cleared his throat. Alma looked back at him to see he looked fairly uncomfortable.

"What?" she asked, blunt as ever, and James chuckled nervously.

"I just wanted to ask, what happened today?" he asked, and Alma frowned, turning towards him so her legs were dangling off the arm of her chair, "With Petunia?"

James found it almost comical how quickly Alma's expression dropped, "She's a bitch," she said simply, and James smirked, "Like, I can't even believe what she did," she added, shaking her head sadly. James' smirk fell.

"What happened?" he asked, his expression serious, and Alma sighed.

"Well, I feel no guilt telling you this, because Lily was going to but you weren't there, or something," she said, turning to him for confirmation, and he nodded, "so tell her not to kill me, will you? If she starts to get jittery, tell her you interrogated me, forced it out of me, or something, all right? Threatened my life, you know," she said, and James chuckled.

"You're funny," he said, and Alma grinned, "I see why Lily likes you."

"Yeah, I like her too," she said with a shrug, biting her lip, "I'm usually really rubbish at making friends. I honestly thought I wouldn't get along with a soul here," she said, gesturing around Mungos, and James rolled his eyes.

"I didn't ask for your life story. Can we just get back to the topic at hand?" he asked, amused, and Alma blushed.

"Sorry, I do that a lot," she said, and he smirked.

"I guessed."

" _Anyway_ ," she said, ignoring his earlier input, "So we were all very excited when Lily found her dress," she started, grinning and turning to him, "you'll love it, she looks absolutely gorgeous. I'll make sure to slap you or something if you start to pass out when she takes your breath away," she said, and James rolled his eyes.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome," she said, before turning away from him to face the wall once more, "So we were all very excited, Lily's mum was crying, you know, I'm sure you can picture the scene," she said, and James shook his head, fighting a smile. He hadn't realized she was as chatty as she was, he'd always assumed she was more like a female Sirius; quiet unless she was being snarky, "And then Alice pulled over the bridesmaids dresses and everyone got even more excited. We tried them on, me and Alice, and they actually looked very nice, just requiring a few minor alterations which should be done in a few days- oh, sorry, off topic again," she said, shaking her head, "I don't think any of us had noticed that Petunia hadn't said anything and looked annoyed. I mean, I suppose it could have been because she wasn't involved, but to be fair Alice and I had asked her a few times without Lily's knowledge; we didn't want to upset her or anything. After that we couldn't be bothered," she mused, and James grimaced, "So naturally, Lily noticed, and I don't blame her for it, honestly I don't, she got annoyed and asked Petunia what her problem was. I suppose that's typical sister stuff, I don't have any siblings so-"

"Alma," James chuckled, and she blushed.

"Sorry," she squeaked, "right, so then Petunia stood up and started whining about how she shouldn't have bothered to come. Unreasonable, if you ask me, given she arrived about three hours after we'd started shopping," she sniffed, and James shook his head irritably, "Anyway, Lily turned red and told her she shouldn't have bothered, and then said if she was so miserable being at the dress shopping, she should just avoid the wedding all together," she said, and James winced. Alma grimaced in agreement, "Obviously Jane didn't like that. She told them both off for causing a scene in the boutique, which they really were, a few of the other shoppers and the shop keepers were clearly eavesdropping, nosy buggers," she added, and James laughed, "Anyway, Lily went off to change out of the beautiful dress, looked like she was about to cry. Alice went with her to help. They were gone a while, so I'm pretty sure Lily did cry a little bit then. I stuck around because I wanted to know what was going on," she said, and James smirked.

"Tactful," he said, and Alma scoffed.

"It's called efficiency. Alice could comfort Lily, I would find out what was going on. It's why you send more than one troop into battle," she said, and James snorted, "And frankly, Alice was much better qualified to comfort Lily. I only found out the bloody sister drama today itself."

James laughed, holding his hands up in surrender, "All right, I concede, then what happened?"

"Well then Jane was yelling at Petunia. Very entertaining stuff, I was properly rooting for her," she said, "turns out, and brace yourself, it's very ugly stuff," she said, and James cocked a brow at her, "Petunia told Jane she was upset because Lily hadn't RSVP'd to her engagement party," she said, and James' jaw dropped.

"Lily didn't get an invitation!" he countered indignantly.

"Exactly," she said, smacking her lips, "She basically disinvited her sister and had her mother blaming Lily! It's fucking genius, if you're on Petunia's side. But poor Jane, turns out she'd asked Alice for the truth already, and you know Alice," she said, and James chuckled, nodding, "she defended Lily and said that no she hadn't received any such invitation. Jane found that explanation much more believable than Lily being cruel, and told off Petunia."

"I bet Petunia didn't like that," James muttered, and Alma shook her head sadly.

"Nope," she said, "when Lily came back out in her normal clothes, looking very angry still, Petunia started to shriek at her. Loudly. It was embarrassing actually, I wanted to leave," Alma grimaced, cringing, "Started saying things about how her freak sister was stealing her thunder by getting engaged at the same time- not that Lily knew that, at least Lily had the decency to tell her sister when _she_ got engaged," Alma added bitterly, and James dropped his head in his hands, "and then she started hollering about how could Lily do that, how could she be such a rubbish sister. Then started going on about how she didn't _want_ Lily at the engagement party because she'd probably make it about herself, and something about how everything is about Lily and her perfect this and that," Alma winced. James gaped.

"What did Lily say?"

"I think she was in shock," Alma mused, frowning slightly, "I was too, to be fair. I didn't know what to do when Petunia stopped yelling. Even Jane looked like she couldn't speak, but I think that's because she had started sobbing again," she said, and James grimaced, "That's when Alice stepped in."

James grinned, "Of course," he chuckled, and Alma laughed.

"She's terrifying, I don't know how that Frank is going to manage," she said, shaking her head fondly, "She walked over to Petunia and got right up in her face and told her to leave. In a really scary voice," she added, and James sighed, shaking his head, "So then Petunia got out, and we had to help Lily sit down. That's when she started to cry. I think she'd finally understood just what it was Petunia was yelling about. Then Jane sat down next to her and explained the whole RSVP drama and begged her to come anyway. I didn't think Lily wanted to make that decision just yet, so that's when I suggested we all get the fuck out of there," she said, and shrugged, "The end."

"That's madness," James said, shaking his head, looking down at his feet, "No wonder she got snappy when we asked about Petunia."

"Yeah, she still seems down about it all," Alma said, giving him a pointed look, and he nodded. She looked down at her watch, "Our shift's just about ended," she added, "I'm pretty sure she wanted to talk to you about it."

"Yeah, I've got it," he said, sighing, before looking up at her gratefully, "Thanks. For telling me, and for being there for her today," he said. Alma shrugged off his gratitude.

"She's my friend, it wasn't even an option," she said, and James smiled. His gaze averted to something over her shoulder, and Alma turned to see Lily walking towards them, dead on her feet.

"He's okay," Lily sighed, dropping into the seat next to James, exhausted, "You can't go see him yet. Don't think he'll be conscious until the afternoon at least. He's had a lot of potions to help accelerate his internal healing process. He'd dome some real damage to himself, but we had it all healed up pretty quickly, once she taught me the spells," she yawned, leaning her head on James' shoulder, "It's been a hard day."

Alma exchanged a look with James, before pushing herself up, "I was just going to-"

"Find Sirius," James said, nodding. He fought back a smirk at her flabbergasted expression, "We should probably let him know, at least, before we leave," he reasoned, and Alma scowled at him.

"Oh that's great, could you tell him we've already left? Thanks Alma," Lily said, grinning up at the brunette.

"Yeah, all right," she grumbled, "I'll tell him you've gone," she said, and after glaring once more at James, turned on her heel, heading off towards the staircase, muttering angrily under her breath.

"She didn't volunteer to find Sirius, did she?" Lily asked, amused, and James chuckled.

"Just sprung it on her, I did. Clever, don't you think? This way we get to leave now, _and_ we don't have to deal with a crabby Sirius," he said, pulling Lily to her feet. She laughed, threading her fingers through his.

"I need to grab my bag," she said, and he shrugged, letting her drag him off in the right direction.

"You all right?" he asked, and she sighed, looking up at him before shaking her head.

"I had a run in with Petunia today," she said, and James nodded.

"I know."

"What do you mean you- bloody Alma," she muttered, and James chuckled, placing his arm around her shoulders.

"I was told to tell you that I interrogated her, forced the truth out of her, and threatened her life, or something. I was definitely told to tell you not to kill her," he said, and Lily laughed, "To be fair, I did ask her."

"She's a nutcase," she stated, smiling, "well, I'm glad, at least, that I don't have to repeat it all," she sighed sadly, and James grimaced.

"Sounds awful."

"Petunia generally is," Lily breathed, shaking her head as they reached the Healers chambers, James following her to her locker as she pulled her bag out, "I just can't believe she pulled that rubbish you know? Especially when I was having such a wonderful time," she said, and James grinned.

"Alma said I'd probably pass out when I saw you in the dress," he said, and Lily laughed loudly, turning around to look up at him, her eyes twinkling, "said she'd slap me or something so I'd stay conscious."

"Ah, friendship," Lily said, rolling her eyes, "Why is everyone in my life a lunatic?" she asked, and James laughed.

"Just lucky, I guess," he said, dropping a kiss on her nose, and she giggled, "You going to go to Petunia's engagement party?"

"Yes," Lily said, lifting her chin stubbornly. James smirked, "I can't give her the satisfaction of not going."

"You two and your games," he tutted, allowing her to lead him out of the chambers and back to the lobby, "Think of the innocents that'll get caught in the crossfire."

"Don't worry, you'll be fine," she said with a wink, squeezing his hand, "You know you have to come, right? I'll need some backup. Plus, I'm pretty sure you're obligated, as fiancé and all."

James chuckled, kissing her temple, "Can't pass up an opportunity to annoy Vernon, now can I?" he said, and Lily shook her head, grinning as the two of them left the building, hand in hand.

* * *

She found him in the tearoom on the Fifth Floor. He was the only one in there, sitting at the table she and Lily usually ate at, staring down at the tabletop. She couldn't tell if he was angry, but she figured that made sense; she didn't even know him anyway.

She felt like an idiot. She was holding a cup of tea she'd thought to grab from one of the waiting areas downstairs. She figured it was a bribe, so he wouldn't yell at her. Or curse her at least; if he did the hot tea would probably hurt him as well.

"Hi," she said, breaking the silence when she was standing by him. His hand twitched, but that was all the reaction she got, "I, er, I brought you some tea," she said lamely. He lifted his head to look up at her dubiously through his dark gray eyes.

"Why?" he snorted, "It's not poisoned, is it?"

"If it was I obviously wouldn't tell you," she scoffed. Sirius rolled his eyes, "It's more like a defense tactic," she added with a shrug, "if you attack me I'll make sure it flies in your direction."

Sirius' mouth twitched, fighting an impressed smile, "Smart," he said, as she placed the cup down in front of him, "Why'd you bother coming to talk to me?"

"It wasn't by choice," she snorted, sitting down across from him. He gave her a sarcastic look, and she fought the urge to throw the tea in his face, "James conned me into it. Told Lily I was coming to find you, and she looked so bloody happy I couldn't say no," she said irritably, and Sirius smirked, taking a sip of the tea and looking off at the wall.

"She's like that," he said, and Alma rolled her eyes

"It's annoying."

"Tell me about it."

They fell into uncomfortable silence once more, Sirius sipping his tea and looking at one of the walls, Alma looking down at her hands, before Alma sighed, "Look, I'm no good at this coy rubbish, so let's be frank," she said, and Sirius rolled his eyes, "I don't like you, and you don't like me-"

"Fact."

"-but I'm going to put on my best behavior and be civil," she said through gritted teeth, attempting to ignore his interruption, "Because I can't take Lily's lectures about kindness anymore," she said with an eye roll. Sirius gave her a mocking look.

"Self sacrifice, nice."

"Shut up," Alma huffed, and he smirked as he looked back down at his tea, "I just came to tell you that Lily and James have left," she said, and Sirius nodded, still not looking at her. She stood up and made to walk away, but hesitated. After a moment, he turned to frown up at her.

"What?" he barked.

"I also thought I should tell you that Remus is fine," she said, watching as his eyes snapped to hers, giving her his full attention for the first time, "Lily said he was fully healed, that you couldn't go see him yet. Also that he probably wouldn't be conscious till the afternoon because he'd had a lot of potions to speed up his body's natural healing process," she said. He nodded, "I don't think it took them very long to heal him. That's a good sign," she added, meting his eye and giving him a semblance of a smile.

"Is this you being civil?" Sirius asked after a moment, and Alma rolled her eyes, crossing her arms irritably.

"Is a thank you too much to ask for?" she squawked. He smirked, "Merlin, how Hestia puts up with you, I'll never know."

"I'd say the same about your boyfriend," he said, and Alma rolled her eyes, turning away from him.

"I'm leaving."

"Goodbye," he said, matching her tone, smirking as she stormed away.

"Hi!" he heard her squeal, and turned, bewildered as to why she'd suddenly be so nice to him. Turned out, she was speaking to someone else, and Sirius watched as she threw her arms around a boy in the same robes she was wearing. He rolled his eyes and turned away, downing the rest of his tea and crumpling the cup in one hand, before throwing it in the vicinity of the bins and making his way out of the building.

* * *

 **Super long chapter for you, I didn't realize just how long it would be until I started writing it! Got to about 15K words when I realized I still had 2/3 of the chapter left, which is when I decided I might as well keep writing rather than turn it into two chapters-I don't think anyone has ever had any complaints about long chapters in the history of fanfiction.**

 **I hope it makes up for how rubbish I've been at updating recently! Think of it as a peace offering.**

 **Also, a lot of people keep asking me about TMATCOS. I am not currently continuing it, which is why I haven't uploaded it, as I was only about two chapters into Chamber of Secrets when it was taken down for copyright reasons. This story is my main focus now because a) I'm really excited about the storyline I have planned out, b) I am already writing this and I'm really rubbish at writing more than one story at the same time; I get the characters mixed up and the character development and relationships now vs. when they read CoS is very different, and c) it isn't a blatant violation of copyright policies on the site. If you still have any queries/complaints, please don't hesitate to PM me (not for blatant abuse though, please).**

 **Hopefully the next chapter should be along just as speedily. I've gotten into a groove.**

 **t.t xx**


	13. Two Sides

**Disclaimer: I am not J.K. Rowling, and I do not own any rights to the Harry Potter universe, including storylines and characters.**

* * *

 **This chapter contains references to J.K. Rowlings' third Harry Potter book; Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.**

* * *

" _This is such rubbish," James chortled, shaking his head as he looked at the book in Remus' hands. Sirius, Lily and Peter were laughing._

" _A big supporter of You-Know-Who?" Peter wheezed, causing Sirius and Lily to further descend into splits of laughter. Remus turned to Sirius with a chastising expression on his face._

" _I always knew you'd end up in Azkaban," he snorted, shaking his head fondly as Sirius took a mock bow._

" _Front page of the Daily Prophet, I hope you're impressed," he winked, and Remus rolled his eyes._

" _Wonder why you were put into Azkaban," Peter mused, scratching idly at the top of his head, as he looked at the other four, taking in their relaxed positions around the Marauder dormitory, "I feel like we should be a little more alarmed."_

" _Sod off Wormtail, it's probably some sort of mistake," James chuckled, grinning as Lily pinched Sirius' cheek affectionately, "Let's just read the book. Harry's only just gotten on the bloody bus."_

" _And it's really no surprise to me that Sirius broke the law," Lily sighed, grinning as Sirius threw his arm around her, sniggering._

* * *

"It's too quiet," Sirius grumbled, crossing his arms irritably as he sat at his dining table. Peter was lying on his back on his bed, throwing some balled up socks at the ceiling and catching them repeatedly, higher and higher each time. James sat cross-legged on the floor, frowning as he perused through one of the Horcrux books for some last minute research before heading to work, taking another bite of the toast in his hands as he did so.

When neither boy replied, Sirius sighed, looking down at his hands, doing absolutely everything he could to avoid looking at Remus' empty cot. It was the day after they'd left him at Mungos, and while they'd been allowed to visit with him for unlimited hours while in Hogwarts, Mungos' strict visiting hours only allowed them a couple hours in the morning and evening. This limited James and Sirius' time to two hours a day in the evening after work, and when they'd gone the previous day, they'd been too knackered to do more than collapse next to Remus' bed, forcing Remus to kick them out.

Lily had popped in on Remus multiple times the previous day, during any breaks she may have had, having decided to take a consecutive shift rather than go home. She'd taken their detention mirror with her when she'd visited him at lunch, so James and Sirius could chat with him during their lunch break as well, but a passing Healer had almost confiscated the thing, so they wouldn't be able to do so today. Peter would be going to Mungos to visit with Remus during this mornings visiting hours. They were unfortunately unable to do any of the Horcrux reading they'd had planned, on account of Remus' ward mate, so James had taken it upon himself to attempt to cover what ground Remus would have covered had he been in the flat.

James' other motivation to immerse himself in the books was Lily. Between her lack of sleep and the fall out she'd had with Petunia at the bridal store, she'd alternated between lashing out, not speaking, and crying; the reaction more intense for James, as the one person she felt comfortable enough to push away. She'd spent the previous night snapping at him, until he'd finally had enough and confronted her, leading to one of their biggest rows in months.

"Oi! Prongs, when do you want to head out?" Sirius asked, looking at James, who shrugged noncommittally as he flipped a page, "Five minutes all right?"

"Sure," James garbled out through another bite of toast, eyes not leaving the page in front of him, "Have to tell Lily."

When James made no move to get off the floor, Sirius rolled his eyes and pushed himself to his feet, muttering irritably about avoidance tactics and how impolite it was to not even look at someone while you were speaking to them, as he made his way towards the bedrooms, where he could hear Lily bustling around.

"We're leaving in five," Sirius said, poking his head into the bedroom, where he found Lily hopping on one foot, attempting to pull one of her shoes on. He guffawed, "what the bloody hell are you doing?"

"The stupid thing won't come on," Lily near-whined, collapsing on the bed with a huff. Sirius bit back a smirk as she glared down at her shoe.

"Need a hand?"

Lily rolled her eyes at his patronizing tone, "Go away."

"Where are you going?"

"It's none of your business, Sirius," she grumbled, and he smirked.

"But where are you-"

" _Shopping_ ,Sirius," she interrupted, rolling her eyes as he leaned against the doorframe.

"Does James know?"

"Yes."

"What are you buying?"

"A gift," Lily grumbled.

"You sound very excited."

"Oh, I am, truly," she said, "I may even break the gift, that'll be exciting. Or maybe I'll break your face, that'll be exciting too," she added, with a pointed look at Sirius, who smirked.

"I think you want me to leave."

"Caught on, have you?" she muttered, standing up and opening the wardrobe. Sirius sniggered as he turned and left the room before he pushed her too far.

Sirius sniggered as he made his way back to the living room. The boys still hadn't moved, except for Peter's hands, as they caught the balled up socks once more, "I told her, you almost ready?"

James nodded, closing the book and pushing himself up to his feet with a grunt, "When's she leaving?"

"Ask her yourself," Sirius snorted, grabbing the small rucksack he'd began taking to the office off the floor and slinging it onto his shoulder. James' eyes flickered from where he was brushing crumbs off his shirt to shoot Sirius a sardonic look, "did you two have a row or something?"

"Fuck off Sirius," James sighed, as he made his way back towards the bedrooms, ignoring Sirius' signature smirk, "When are you heading out?" he asked in a clipped tone. Lily had now successfully pulled both her shoes on and was pulling her hair up into a bun.

"In a minute. The store where they've registered doesn't open until nine, so I've got some time. Don't really understand why people register for engagement presents, Merlin knows we didn't think of it, but I suppose nothing Petunia does should surprise me anymore," she said, eyes focused on the mirror in front of her. James nodded and made to turn, when she spoke again, "Not speaking to me, are you?"

"Trying," he said, not blind to the way Lily's lips thinned, "You clearly are."

"James," she said, finally turning her gaze on his, a frown on her face, "That's not fair."

He shrugged, not wanting to get into another argument, and turned to head back to the living room. He paused when he felt her soft hand on his forearm, "I'm sorry," she sighed, resting her forehead against his shoulder when he didn't turn his head to look at her, "I'm trying. I just, I don't-"

Lily sighed again, closing her eyes. She knew she'd been unfair the night before, and had pushed a few buttons she knew better than to push, just to get a decent fight out of him. She always took it out on him when she was furious, and James always avoided her the day after a fight; he dealt with his anger in silence. Today, however, was the first time she couldn't afford to give him that space to cool off; she needed him too much. She couldn't afford to feel like she was losing him the way she'd finally accepted she'd lost her sister.

She took in a deep breath, breathing in his scent and absorbing the comfort of his warmth before she lifted her head and dropping her hand, "Have a good day," she said quietly.

James sighed, turning to look down at her, eying her skeptically, "Are you all right, Lily?" he asked, frowning as she met his eyes, "Last night, I mean," he hesitated, eyes flickering between hers. Lily shook her head, grabbing his left hand in her right.

"I'm coping," she said, reassured that he hadn't pulled his hand away, "are we okay?" she asked in a small voice. A small smile pulled up the corners of his lips and he leaned down to kiss her forehead.

"Always," he said, and Lily nodded, "I'm off to work," he said. She gave him a watery smile and nodded her head quickly.

"And you'll still come with me to Petunia's?"

"Already have my penguin suit ready," he nodded, and Lily giggled, grinning up at him.

"I'll tell you how dashing you look, I promise," she said, placing a quick kiss on his cheek, "Thank you for speaking to me."

"Thank you for not yelling," he said, and Lily rolled her eyes, shoving at him as his eyes twinkled down at her. She could still see the hints of irritation in the tightness of his jaw and in the depths of his hazel eyes, and smiled apologetically.

"I do love you."

"I know," he sighed, ruffling his hair, "See you later."

"Have a good day, dear," she called after him, smiling to herself as she heard his amused snort.

* * *

James hid a yawn behind his hand as Moody continued to yammer on about safety protocols and procedures to follow in case of a Ministry attack. Sirius was actively fighting sleep in the seat next to him; his head lolling forwards only to shoot back up, panicked, every few minutes. Moody had been reviewing this topic for over an hour now, though he'd covered the basic gist of it ten minutes in.

While Moody continued to speak, James let his mind wander, finding himself focusing on the dynamics of their group. He'd found it surprising at first that Remus' absence had led to such deafening silence in the flat, given that the boy was always absent during the full moon days at Hogwarts. The last twenty-four hours, however, had been awful. If he wouldn't speak, there'd be no conversation. He couldn't even count on Lily to start speaking, since she was so busy dealing with her own emotions.

He supposed it all came down to Sirius.

His eyes flickered to his best mate, now pinching at his thighs to stay awake, and he held in a sigh. He loved Sirius, truly, but even he could see that Sirius was not the easiest person to get on with. He had to applaud Lily, for somehow managing to wrangle the boy's friendship and affection, and for becoming a friend to Sirius in her own right, rather than just as James' girlfriend. It wasn't an easy task, he knew, and he'd been grateful. Sirius wouldn't be Sirius if he weren't a closed book. He hadn't even let Hestia in properly yet, and Merlin knew the boy was mad about her. He'd only let a handful of people in throughout his lifetime, just the Marauders, the Potters, and Lily.

He'd let Peter in, only to find out the boy had betrayed him in the worst way possible.

Even though it hadn't happened yet.

James knew the knowledge had hit Sirius the hardest. Sirius no longer trusted Peter, he'd put his walls back up against him; he wouldn't speak to him, nor would Peter feel he could speak to Sirius.

Thus, the silence.

James sighed, rubbing at the back of his neck. He knew he wasn't entirely comfortable around Peter anymore, but he'd acknowledged Lily's reasoning; that the future would be different now, that he couldn't be so angry about things that hadn't happened, that now, more than ever, they needed Peter to feel like they wouldn't abandon him. This last one had been the hardest for James to fathom, but he'd realized Lily was right; not only would Peter need a chance to prove and redeem himself, he also knew too much for them to risk his betrayal.

James felt sick thinking that.

He felt a kick on his chair leg, and jerked his head to see Sirius paying rapt attention, and turned his head to the front, where Moody seemed to have finished his speech ( _none too soon,_ James thought moodily) and seemed to have brought in someone else to address them.

"Who is that? Were you listening?" Sirius hissed out of the corner of his mouth. James, continuing to look forwards so as not to attract attention, simply lifted his shoulders in a shrug. He heard Sirius' muted swear.

Moody gave the room one last stern look, before turning on his heel and walking out of the training room, leaving in his wake a serious looking man with a thin mustache.

"As you know," he started, clasping his hands behind his back as he began to walk around the room, "My name is Bartemious Crouch, and I'm here to talk to you about the protocols of the wizard prison, Azkaban."

Sirius' jaw locked.

* * *

" _A mass murder?" Lily said, alarmed, as she turned her head to look at Sirius, shocked. Sirius himself looked disturbed, staring down at the book with open-mouthed disbelief, "Thirteen people?"_

" _Come off it Lil," James chuckled, kicking his leg out to nudge the shock-still Sirius, "it has to be some sort of mistake, Sirius would never-"_

" _They can't have gotten it that wrong," Remus said uneasily, grimacing apologetically as Sirius' shocked gaze turned to him, "No offence mate, I mean, I don't think you would, but-"_

" _The Ministry makes mistakes all the bloody time," James insisted, cutting Remus off as he noted the infinitesimal shift in Sirius' expression, "let's just keep reading."_

" _Twelve years," Sirius murmured through numb lips, and James winced, "_ Twelve _Prongs, what the fuck?" he breathed, dropping his head in his hands._

" _Just relax," James said, clapping Sirius on the shoulder. Peter smiled encouragingly as Sirius looked up at him, nodding his head._

" _I'm sure it's nothing. Besides, now you can prevent it. We'll even physically restrain you from being in the area at the time," he shrugged, and Sirius snorted, causing the other four to chuckle, before letting out a loud sigh._

" _Let's just read the damn thing."_

* * *

"What is this supposed to be?" Lily murmured under her breath, lifting what she assumed to be a crystal jumble off the shelf in front of her. She turned the piece over and gaped, placing it down immediately.

 _'1500 pounds? Are they mad?'_ she thought, scurrying away from the shelf as subtly as she could. She pulled the list of registered items out of her purse once more, scanning down it for the cheapest item on it. She snorted reading the title, 'petunia says yes'. Only Petunia would register for bloody ENGAGEMENT gifts, Lily couldn't even rationalize registering for such a thing. She didn't even want bloody wedding gifts, but she supposed it wouldn't be the worst thing. But an engagement? It seemed fairly over the top to her. Though why she found this behavior in petunia surprising, she didn't know.

Sussing out the cheapest looking item on the list, Lily headed towards the appropriate shelf for the salad bowl. She turned over the price tag on the (frankly) gaudy bowl, and she breathed a sigh of relief. 26 pounds. Much more reasonable. Though still 26 pounds more than she was willing to pay.

After all Petunia had put her through, surely her very presence would be gift enough

Not because Petunia would appreciate it, Lily wasn't naive enough to believe that, it would save Petunia the telling off she'd get from their mom.

Chuckling at the thought of such a confrontation, Lily grabbed the ugly bowl and followed the signs pointing towards the cashier. She handed over the Muggle money she'd exchanged specially for this trip before grabbing her purchase, smiling politely at the shop assistant who wished her a pleasant day, and turned away.

 _A pleasant day_ , Lily snorted, _wouldn't that be something_.

Shucking her jacket back on to protect against the nippy Autumn air, Lily pushed open the door of the shop to be greeted by crisp autumn breeze. She smiled in spite of herself; she'd always loved the wind. As her eyes focused on the crowds, her eyes narrowed in on two little girls dressed as ballerinas. They were holding hands, the older pulling the other to a halt so she didn't barge right into a passerby, distracted as she was avoiding the cracks in the pavement.

Lily felt a ripple of pain shoot through her as she watched them, her mind filling with memories of her golden childhood with her sister; the two dancing around their living room, playing with dolls, competing on the swings, laughing as they watched old movies together, binging on popcorn as they did. Then they took a turn, reality seeping in.

Petunia calling her a freak for the first time.

Petunia refusing to receive and send her off at Kings Cross.

Petunia and her screaming at each other every time she came home.

Her mother weeping in the kitchen when she didn't think anyone was watching.

Her fathers pained expression when Lily said she didn't have a sister.

Petunias returned letters.

Lily in her wedding dress, Petunia screaming at her.

How had it all gone so wrong?

* * *

Peter lifted his hand to knock gently on the doorframe of Remus' ward, pushing open the door as a voice called for him to 'come in'.

"Aren't you a sight for sore eyes," Remus smirked, as Peter made his way in, holding a paper cup.

"I'd be flattered, but I know you're speaking to this," Peter chuckled, handing the cup to Remus, who immediately lifted the cup to his lips, "Where's your friend?" he asked, nodding towards the empty bed across Remus', usually occupied by Remus' ward mate.

"A Healer wheeled him out a while ago, I think he went for some tests, or something," Remus shrugged, nodding towards the seat next to his bed, which Peter proceeded to sink himself into, "What's new?"

"Nothing," Peter sighed, pulling one of his legs up to rest his ankle across his knee, "The flat is unnaturally quiet without you."

Remus cocked a brow, "I wasn't aware I'd become one of the noisy ones," he mused, frowning, "I don't think I like that," he added grumpily, and Peter snorted.

"You're not," Peter said, sighing as Remus turned to him, a curious look in his eyes, "Nobody is in a particularly chatty mood I think. I mean, Lily's obviously been a wreck-"

"She has?" Remus asked, bewildered, "Why? What happened?"

"Oh, right," Peter snickered, "you missed it all."

"Shut up, tell me what happened," Remus demanded, taking another sip of his hot chocolate, his eyes alight with concern, "She and Prongs didn't-"

"No of course not," Peter snorted, wriggling in the chair to get more comfortable, "some rubbish went down with Petunia when she went for her wedding dress, turns out Petunia is having an engagement party that she uninvited Lily to, by telling their mum Lily had said she wasn't coming," he said.

Remus let out a low whistle, shaking his head, "Explains why Lily's been sullen the last few times she's come in," he said, taking another sip, "Poor Lily," he added, and Peter grimaced.

"Poor Prongs," he said, and Remus frowned, "they've been fighting almost constantly."

"Explains her silence," he said, giving Peter a pointed look. The blond boy sighed.

"What do you want me to say, Moony? It's just awkward. Sirius won't talk to me, Prongs is too angry to speak, Lily's brooding. There's just not a lot of speaking in the flat without you anymore," he finished with a grimace. Remus shook his head solemnly.

"If you'd told me this would happen in sixth year, I'd never have believed it," Remus sighed after a moment, dropping his head back to the wall. Peter grimaced, "Life wasn't supposed to look like this."

"Whose? Yours or everyone's?"

Remus rolled his eyes, turning his head to shoot Peter an irritated look. Peter smirked, "Give Sirius time," Remus said, turning back to stare up at the ceiling, his head still lolling against the wall. He missed Peter's wince.

"I don't think he's ever going to come around," Peter murmured after a moment, looking down at his jeans sadly, "I keep waiting for him to attack me."

"At least if he does you'll have enough to talk about," Remus said after a few awkward moments. Peter shot him a sarcastic look as Remus, smirking, took another sip of his hot chocolate, "Any more luck with the, er, project?" Remus added.

"Project?" Peter asked stupidly, frowning at Remus, who rolled his eyes.

"Obviously I can't say the bloody H word out loud in case anyone is listening in," he said, his voice dripping with impatience as Peter continued to look befuddled, "what we've all been researching?"

Recognition lit up in Peter's watery blue eyes, "Oh!" he gasped, his eyes wide. Remus resisted the urge to roll his eyes as Peter shifted in his seat, "No, actually. Prongs was doing something before he and Sirius left for work this morning, not entirely sure if he found anything though," he said, scratching at the top of his head.

"Because of the not-talking, right," Remus grumbled, taking the final sip of his drink before reaching forwards to place it on the tray at the end of his cot, "We really need to be getting a move on with it."

"I agree mate," Peter sighed, stretching his arms above his head, "shame we can't bring any books here."

"Tell me about it," Remus snorted, looking around at the bare walls of the ward with distaste, "A person could die of boredom in here, it would have been nice to have had something to do."

"Maybe when you're in a private ward," Peter shrugged, and Remus shrugged unhappily, "How's your foot by the way?"

"Healing," Remus shrugged, nodding towards the large lump under the blanket, his bandaged foot, "I can't move it in these plasters, but the Healer came and checked it a couple hours ago, it looks much better, thank Merlin," he said, and Peter smiled.

"That's great news, mate."

Before Remus or Peter could utter another word, the doors to the ward opened, revealing a put out Bernard Lovett, Remus' ward mate.

Bernard Lovett was someone Remus had truly come to enjoy spending time with, given he was the first adult werewolf Remus had spent any degree of time with in his life. He was short in stature, well built, standing at 5"6, with platinum blonde hair and ice blue eyes. He was, like Remus, facing bouts of unemployment following a successful school career. He was a few years older, and had graduated from the Welsh wizarding school, Ysgol hud.

"What's the matter with you?" Remus asked, resting his pounding head against the wall again as a brown-haired Trainee Healer wheeled Bernard into the room.

"He's just pushed me around the entire fucking floor in this bloody thing like a Merlin-damned gimp," Bernard grumbled, before nodding at Peter, "Hey."

"Hi," Peter said, hiding a chuckle, as the Trainee began to help Bernard, who had severely damaged his right hip during his last transformation, into his cot.

"Thanks," Bernard grumbled reluctantly, earning a smirk from the Trainee, "this is Owen," he added, nodding at the Healer, who waved at Remus and Peter in greeting, "He knows how fucking sick we are of this place."

"It's true," Remus confirmed. Owen chuckled.

"Sorry mate," he said, in a thick Scottish accent, and the two werewolves shrugged. Bernard sighed and closed his eyes.

"C'est la vie. Where's your redhead lady friend, by the by?" he asked, peeling an eyelid open to look at Remus, who snorted.

"She's not here today, night shift," he said.

"Oh good, at least we won't be bored," Bernard said with a smirk. Remus shook his head fondly; Bernard, it seemed, had taken a liking to Lily. Innocent or not, Remus couldn't help but be entertained by it.

"You know Lily?" Owen asked with a polite smile, as he used he updated Bernard's chart. Peter frowned.

"Do you?" Peter asked.

"She's a friend," Owen shrugged, leaning against the wall.

"So you must know Alma as well, then," Peter said politely. To their surprise, the Scottish boy's face reddened. Bernard cocked a brow at him.

"You're Alma's boyfriend," Remus stated, smiling, and Owen jerked his head awkwardly, avoiding eye contact with Bernard, who was eyeing him with a calculating expression on his face.

"Well it's very nice to meet you," Peter said with a wave, and Owen nodded, before clearing his throat, still avoiding looking at Bernard, and scurrying out of the room, "seems a bit jittery if you ask me," Peter added, and Remus snorted, "Reckon a bird like Alma could do better."

"Have a thing for her, do you?" Remus sniggered, earning an shove from the blond boy. Remus smirked, noting the faint blush on Peter's cheeks, "Lily's going to love this," he sniggered, and Peter rolled his eyes, shoving again.

* * *

" _Why would they think you escaped to kill Harry?" James snorted, rolling his eyes as he watched Sirius cackle from where he was sprawled across the Common Room sofa. Lily was seated on the floor beside him, leaning against the base of the sofa as she read the book. She was delicately giggling, her trembles causing James' lips to turn up in the corners, and he reached over to ruffle her hair._

" _Escaped Azkaban to kill Harry," Lily giggled, shaking her head, as she dropped it forwards to rest her forehead on her knees, "Sirius, they know you so well."_

" _Why would they think you were after Harry?" Peter asked, scratching his chin stupidly as he looked over at Sirius, who looked gobsmacked. Remus smirked at him._

" _With his insanity, probably. Thought he'd want to reawaken Harry's inner James," Remus said sardonically, smirking as both Sirius and James shot him sarcastic looks._

" _I resent that," Sirius said, and James scoffed in agreement. Lily continued to giggle, "And what is the matter with you?" he asked, exasperated, as he addressed Lily._

" _I just, I can't believe it," she giggled, lifting her head off her knees to grin at him. Sirius rolled his eyes, "I mean, what happened to you Sirius? Azkaban, stalker of young children-"_

" _Oi!" Sirius barked, cutting her off as the other three burst out laughing, "Stalker of young children is_ not _one of my crimes!"_

" _Apparently it is," James sniggered, winking as Sirius turned his glare on him, "that also my child. I'm flattered Padfoot, really."_

" _Fuck off Prongs," Sirius snorted, pushing his dark locks out of his eyes._

" _It's Lily's child he's after," Peter snickered, and Sirius winked at Lily, who rolled her eyes._

" _James, he's doing it again," Lily whined, and James chuckled, kissing her atop the head._

" _You know I can't control him, love. He's always been this way around attractive women," he added, and Lily chuckled._

" _Flattery will get you nowhere, Potter."_

" _Not even the Seventh Floor broom closet?"_

 _Lily paused, stroking her chin thoughtfully, "Maybe there," she conceded after a moment, and James chuckled._

" _Really Evans, I thought you were supposed to be the well behaved one," Sirius tutted, smirking at her condescendingly as she stuck her tongue out at him._

" _Speaking of well behaved," Remus cut in, his voice laced with amusement, "Why are we not more concerned about Sirius' delinquency?"_

" _I think we've all gotten too accustomed to it, Remus," Lily sighed, grinning as Sirius flipped her off._

" _In all seriousness," James chuckled, watching as Sirius aimed a kick at Remus, who winked back at the boy, "It's all bollocks. I mean, this is a world where he's on You-Know-Who's side, so I think we can fairly say its bullshit. Sirius wouldn't even be in Azkaban, as we've established," he said, and Sirius blew him a kiss, "Cheers," James said, nodding his invisible hat at Sirius, who flipped him off, causing the others to chuckle, "And if by some ridiculous twist of fate he has-"_

" _You sound very romantic saying things like 'twist of fate'," Lily mused, and James rolled his eyes, otherwise ignoring her. Sirius sniggered, reaching over to hi-five Lily._

" _-done all this rubbish," James continued, as if the exchange between his girlfriend and best mate hadn't occurred, "I reckon he'd only want to explain the misunderstandings to Harry, since there's no bloody way he was on You-Know-Who's side. I doubt he'd want to off him."_

" _Yes, that I would want to do," Sirius nodded, and James snorted, "Being his godfather and all, you know."_

 _Lily groaned, dropping her head back against the sofa, "not this again," she whined, pouting up at James, who grinned down at her._

" _I agree with Lily, what makes_ you _qualified to be godfather?" Remus countered, and Sirius sneered at him._

" _Considering this future Azkaban-going You-Know-Who-supporting Sirius we've just learned of, I reckon you ought to properly consider who'd be your best option," Peter said, and Sirius turned his sneer on him as Lily and James laughed._

" _I agree with Peter," Lily said, looking at James earnestly from her perch, "I know he's your best mate and all, but he's probably a risky choice."_

" _He's only after Harry to befriend him, I think we can allow it," James said, winking at Sirius, who blew him another kiss, "It's all bollocks anyway, so can we continue reading this ridiculous book?" James chuckled, winking back at Sirius. Lily laughed and turned the page._

* * *

"How was your day?" Lily asked, smiling timidly as James entered their bedroom. He looked deadbeat, she thought, noticing the tired slump of his shoulders, the slight limp in his step, and his half-closed lids.

"Terrible," James grumbled, throwing himself down on the bed and placing his hands over his face, fingers rubbing his eyes under his glasses as he yawned hugely, "More dueling practice, Moody gave lots of speeches on formations and procedures, Barty Crouch-"

"Actual Barty Crouch? From the books?" Lily squeaked, turning to face him, alarmed.

"He's as stodgy as we thought," James said, and Lily gaped. James peeled one eye open and chuckled, "His son isn't in Azkaban yet though, so he didn't seem so bloody miserable."

"What was he doing in your office?" she asked, turning away to continue braiding her hair. She was to be leaving for the night shift in twenty minutes. She was already wearing her trainers and the Muggle clothes she was going to change out of when she got to work.

"He came to give some speech on Azkaban," James grumbled. Lily froze, dropping her braid and turning to look at James, her eyes wide. She walked over and crouched down next to him. He popped his eye open to look at her again.

"How did Sirius take it?" she whispered, not wanting the boy in question to hear. James bit back a smile- it still astounded him how quickly she got onto his wavelength, without him having to give her anything but a vague clue.

"Not good," he mouthed, and Lily grimaced, "sensitive topic," he added, and Lily sighed, running her fingers through her hair to undo the now-unraveled braid, "I basically spent the day talking to a wall."

"This wall being Sirius, I hope," Lily said, smiling slightly, and James sent her a sarcastic look. She giggled, leaning forwards to press a soft kiss to his cheek.

"What was that for?" he grumbled, and Lily shrugged, kissing him again.

"It's both apology and statement of affection," she said, kissing him a third time. James chuckled.

"I didn't think either of those could be fulfilled with a simple cheek kiss," he said, and Lily giggled, stretching slightly to kiss him on the lips. He reached out and wrapped his arm around her waist, smiling as she squealed as he pulled her on top of him.

"James," she hissed, reaching around to try and push his arm off her. He grinned and wrapped his other one around her as well, "Stop," she giggled, giving up and placing her hands on his cheeks, pulling her face away from his and making sure his didn't follow, "I have to go to work."

"You were in the middle of an apology, stop now and your efforts will have been futile," he said, and she sent him a hard look. He grinned, "I'm the one who had a bad day, why are you being difficult?"

"Because one of us has to be the adult," she scolded, and he chuckled, "Your arms, please?" she said after a moment.

"They're already around you, what more do you want?" he teased, and she rolled her eyes, before sighing and resting her forehead against his chest, "All right?"

"No," she sighed, wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face in his chest, "I'm a wreck."

"You're not giving yourself enough credit. You've got too much fight in you to be a wreck."

"Stop poking fun," she whined. James chuckled. They continued to lie in that position, her on top of him, resting her forehead on his chest, his arms around her waist, head resting back as he closed his eyes. Lily let out a big sigh, and James' eyes flickered open, his hand going to stroke her head as she sniffed.

"Lil?"

"Sorry," she whispered, clearing her throat slightly, not lifting her head from his chest. James frowned, his eyes sparkling with concern behind his wire rimmed glasses, as he scratched absentmindedly at her scalp, "I just. It's- I mean, I don't-"

"It's Petunia," James said after a moment. Lily nodded her head, and James sighed, placing his hand gently on the back of her head, holding her to his chest, "What is it Lil?"

"Is this my fault?" she whispered after a moment.

"No," James said instantly, pulling her head off his chest. Her green eyes were red rimmed and she wasn't looking at him, " _No_ , Lil."

"I have to go to work," Lily said, still not meeting his intense gaze. James tightened his arm around her, and she shook her head frantically, "I can't talk about this right now," she said, pushing at his chest. James continued to gaze at her face, "James, come on, please," she sighed. James waited as she took a few deep breaths, and finally, she met his gaze.

"You haven't done anything wrong," he said steadily, and Lily nodded, a few tears seeping out of her eyes as she continued to hold his gaze, "You understand?" She nodded her head again, and James sighed, pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead.

"I have to go to work," she said, and James released her, pushing himself up into a seated position as she scrambled to her feet, grabbing her bag and scarf.

"Try not to think about it," James said, and Lily let out a water chuckle.

Having gathered her stuff, she turned and leaned down, pressing a quick kiss against his mouth, before pulling away, "Now I have to go," she said, and James nodded, smiling up at her. She continued to stare at him, and he frowned.

"What?" he asked after a few moments under her uncomfortable gaze, and she flushed.

"Um, we're, I mean, we're okay…right?" she said, looking away from him as she blushed further, focusing on a piece of lint on her scarf. She jumped as she felt his hands on her face, and looked up to see him standing over her.

"Go to work," he said, giving her her favourite crooked smile, before kissing her tenderly. Lily rose onto her tip toes, pushing her mouth more snugly against him, and felt him chuckle.

"Snogging again, are we?" a bitter voice sounded from behind Lily, and she whined against James' lips as Sirius stomped into the room, throwing himself down on the bed adjacent to where James had been sitting, looking up at them, "By all means, don't stop on my account. It's not like Moony is in your place of work or anything. Who knows what could happen while you're snogging."

"And that's my cue," Lily sighed, pulling away from James and smiling up at him shyly. He winked.

"See you in the morning," he said, and Lily smiled, kissing him again before sticking her tongue out at Sirius, who saluted, and turning on the spot.

"Living room," Sirius said, and James chuckled, shaking his head.

"Shower," he said, grabbing his towel from the back of the door. Sirius shot him a dark look, "Go read some Horcrux books, I'll be there soon," he said, and Sirius rolled his eyes, pushing himself to his feet and miserably trudging into the living room, where Peter was sitting atop his bed, scribbling on a piece of parchment, routinely glancing back at an open book to the right of his parchment. As Sirius walked further into the room, Peter's head snapped up.

"Oh, hi," he said, by way of greeting, gulping as Sirius didn't respond, simply throwing himself into one of the dining tables' chairs, grabbing the first book he could get his hands on, and opening it up to a random page, "er, what are you looking up?" he continued after a moment, wincing as Sirius simply turned the page, "Um, Sirius?"

"More destructive properties," Sirius said tersely, standing up, ignoring Peter, and striding towards the bookshelf. He grabbed the stack of parchments dedicated to the topic and walked back to the table, placing it down next to the book he'd been looking through. Peter nodded mutely, before biting his lip awkwardly. When he was sure Sirius would say nothing else, he sighed, and looked back down at what he had been writing.

Sirius looked up dubiously as Peter continued to scribble, and frowned. Not wanting to speak to the boy, he attempted to gather what Peter was writing about based on the book he knew he was looking in. It was the one Remus had summoned on advanced defensive magic.

"What the fuck are you scribbling?" Sirius finally asked, disgusted in himself for having broken and asked the question. Peter's head snapped up in shock, and he cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Er, spells on how to conceal magic," he squeaked awkwardly, huddling in on himself under Sirius' harsh gaze, "I figured if we could figure out the theory and how they worked it'd be easier on finding magic that wasn't visible to the naked eye."

Sirius looked back down at his book, biting in the inside of his cheek. He was grudgingly impressed that Peter had thought of that, "Good idea," he muttered grumpily. Peter sent him a tight-lipped smile before looking back down at his notes.

"I figured it'd be best to remain loyal to what we know," Peter said, failing to notice that Sirius had near frozen, and was now glaring at him with open hostility, "that You-Know-Who had concealed some of his Horcrux with such magic, that way it'll be easy to trust ourselves in making choices," Peter continued. He stopped short as Sirius let out a bark of derisive laughter.

"Trust?" he scoffed, slamming his book shut and leaning forwards in his seat, his gray eyes piercing into Peter, who frowned, "Loyalty?"

"Er, yes?" Peter said uncertainly, after a few moments where Sirius didn't continue. Sirius' eyes flashed.

" _You_ are going to sit there, in _my_ fucking flat, and talk to _me_ about _trust_ and _loyalty_?"

Peter winced, settling his book down gently on his bed and clearing his throat, turning so his legs hung off the side of his cot, so he was better facing Sirius, "Listen, Padfoot, let's just-"

"Don't you _dare_ call me that," Sirius spat, pushing his chair back and getting to his feet, returning the stack of parchments he'd picked up to the bookshelf, "You're not really one to talk about things like _loyalty_ and _trust_ , and while we're at it," Sirius let out a crazed laugh, turning to glare at Peter, who shrunk back slightly under the larger boy's fierce gaze.

"Sirius, we're friends," Peter said quietly. Sirius rolled his eyes, and snorted disdainfully, before lifting his hand and jabbing a finger in Peter's direction.

" _No_ , we're not," he near-growled, glaring at Peter, "I am so fucking _done_ with you," he spat. Peter winced.

"Sirius, I don't understand, why are you-"

" _Azkaban_!" Sirius roared, slamming his hands against the dining table, " _Fucking_ AZKABAN, you _bastard_!"

Peter gaped. There was a loud bang, and Peter looked over to see James stood in the corridor, still dripping wet. He was pushing his glasses onto his face, his hair plastered to his forehead from the shower, his towel wrapped haphazardly around his waist, as he took in the scene. Peter had never been happier to see him.

"I heard yelling," James said, his tone accusatory as he took in the scene before him. His expression shifted from bewildered to wary, as his intelligent eyes took in Peter, sitting prone on the bed, a distinctly terrified expression on his face, and Sirius, who was taking heaving breaths, his furious gaze focused on Peter, "Sirius?"

"Just fuck off Prongs," Sirius snarled. James stood his ground, crossing his arms as Sirius turned his furious gaze on him, "Go away."

"No," James said, taking a step forwards so he was equidistant from each of his friends, "What's going on?"

"What's going on?" Sirius let out a bark of laughter, "What's going _on_? How about the fact that nobody's talking about how Wormtail over there sets me up, hm?" he said. James froze, "we've all pretended to forget that that, that, that _he_ ," Peter flinched as Sirius pointed at him, a sneer in his voice, "brought You-Know-Who back to life to save Harry, that he _sold you and Lily_ to the fucking devil himself, that-"

"That's enough," James snapped, cutting Sirius off as the boy started to near vibrate with anger, "You're out of line, mate," he said, glaring at Sirius, who glared back at him, "Ever since Crouch came in this morning-"

At the sound of the name, Sirius sneered at James and turned, pulling open the front door with crackling force and slamming it behind him as he left the flat. The silence that followed Sirius' exit was deafening. James turned his gaze on Peter, who was still sitting shock still on his cot, looking down at his feet. From the telling shudders of Peter's shoulders, James was sure the boy had succumbed to tears.

James cleared his throat, his eyes focused on Peter, who had started to sniffle, "Wormtail-"

"Good night," Peter said, turning away from James and pulling the covers over himself. His tug on the blanket caused the parchment he'd been working on, and the book, to slip onto the floor, landing with a thud.

James opened his mouth to try to say something else to comfort the boy, but Peter's tone had rung with finality, and frankly, James could find nothing to say.

* * *

James lay in bed that night, staring up at the ceiling, waiting for Sirius to come back to the flat. At a quarter past two in the morning, James heard voices from across the hall. He hurriedly pushed himself out of bed, however reluctantly, and after pulling on his dressing gown, tip toed to Sirius' room. Light shone through the crack underneath Sirius' bedroom door, illuminating the small hallway.

James gently twisted the knob, pushing the door slightly and peering in. Sirius was across the room, facing away from James as he toed off his trainers. There was a woman's bag on Sirius' bed, and from Sirius' en-suite, James could hear running water. James' eyes narrowed in on a pair of orange high-heeled shoes near the bed.

His eyes met Sirius' as the boy turned to throw his t-shirt in the vicinity of the cupboard. Sirius froze, t-shirt in hand.

James cocked a brow. Sirius saluted.

With a small smile, James shut the door and headed back to his room.

* * *

 _Lily's voice shook as she finished the chapter, letting go of the book quickly, as if it had shocked her. Nobody had interrupted her in over five minutes, as she read out the conversation between the Professors in the Three Broomsticks. She couldn't believe what she had just read, but as she lifted her head to look at Sirius, she found herself unable to see him the same._

 _Sirius turned to meet Lily's eyes as he felt her looking at him, but she turned away as soon as he'd made to make eye contact. He felt as if there was a rock in his stomach, as if his glands no longer dispensed saliva and tears but dust, as if his heart had plummeted into his intestines. He felt like retching, like attempting to heave out this awful feeling, this insanity. Nobody was speaking._

 _He turned to Remus, the calmest, the most level headed, but even he couldn't bear to meet Sirius' eye. Peter, Sirius noticed, was looking down at his fingers._

… _all that was left was a finger…_

 _Sirius jumped to his feet, not wanting to believe that this was his future, that this was something he could possibly do. Had his parents gotten to him? Had his family's nonsense sunk in? No, Sirius shook his head; he couldn't imagine that was possible. His family made him sick. His eyes shot to Lily, and he knew for certain his family was wrong. He'd never believe it. It was bollocks, the entire story was bollocks, and James knew it. Sirius would have never joined You-Know-Who. He'd have never betrayed James. He had to know that. James would know this was rubbish. James wouldn't believe it for a second._

 _Desperate, Sirius sought James. But James couldn't look at him either. James looked as sick as he felt._

 _Before he had consciously made the decision, his legs had carried him out of the Marauder dormitory, his own dormitory. As he descended the stairs, he didn't need to look behind him to know nobody had followed._

000000

" _He still hasn't left his room," Lily said to Remus, who shook his head sadly, "He's put up Silencing charms and locked the door."_

 _The two were down in the Great Hall eating lunch three days later. James had stormed out of the dormitory after Sirius that day, and had locked himself in his room in the Heads dormitories and hadn't left; not to attend lessons, not for Quidditch Practice, not for meals. He wasn't speaking to anyone either, not even to Lily._

" _Wormtail and I went to the kitchens last night, turns out the House Elves have been bringing him food in his room," Remus said, and Lily sighed, twisting her fork in her spaghetti dejectedly._

" _How is Peter?"_

" _Surprisingly all right," Remus said after a moment, taking a sip of his Pumpkin juice as he stared straight ahead, "Prongs has got at least a months' detention waiting for him. McGonagall is furious."_

 _The two sat in silence for a few moments, before Lily cleared her throat._

" _And Sirius?"_

" _He has detention too," Remus said, his voice sharp. Lily winced at Remus' anger, before taking a breath to ask her next question._

" _Where is he?"_

" _No idea."_

" _He hasn't come back to the dorm? Not even to sleep?" Lily asked, alarmed. She turned to look at Remus, who continued to look resolutely ahead, the skin around his eyes tight with anger. She gasped as he shook his head, "Did you check the map?"_

" _James has it."_

 _The conversation ended as Lily's friend, Dorcas Meadowes, sat down across from them, and began serving herself large helpings of rice, "Either of you cracked the Charms questions yet?"_

000000

 _Lily's head snapped up from where she was doing her Charms assignment in the Heads Common Room as the door to James' bedroom finally opened. It had been a week since she had last seen him. He looked ragged. His usually smooth face looked haggard with stubble, his eyes were bloodshot, surrounded by dark circles, his hair stood up at angles more dramatic than usual. He didn't seem to have changed his clothes in days._

 _His eyes scoured the room until they met hers, and Lily took in the dried tear tracks down his cheeks and the chapped of his lips. He walked over to her and she stood up in time to catch him in a devastated embrace._

" _Are you all right?" she choked, pulling back and placing her hands on his cheeks. His facial hair tickled her palms. His hazel gaze was piercing her, through the dirty, fingerprint covered glass of his spectacles. Despite his disheveled appearance, there was a steadiness in his eyes that soothed her at some deep level._

" _Yes," he said, his voice cracking, no doubt from a general lack of use, "Though I think I'm going to fail my N.E.W.T.s," he added. Lily released a watery chuckle, wiping at her wet eyes_

" _I've got notes," she said. James pressed his lips against her forehead, enveloping her in a hug, "You've got detentions."_

" _I'm sure," he murmured, closing his eyes and breathing in the scent of her, "I need to schedule Quidditch too."_

" _I booked the pitch all of next week."_

 _James smiled into her hair, wrapping his arms more snugly around her, "You knew I'd be out?"_

" _I was going to blast the door open tonight if you didn't come down," she grumbled, and James chuckled, releasing her and placing his hands on her cheeks._

" _Sorry I worried you, love," he said._

" _I did your half of the rounds schedules, Prefect reports and points calculations as well," she sniffed. James chuckled, kissing her forehead once more as she wrapped her arms around his waist, burying her face in his chest, "Don't do that again."_

" _Sorry," he repeated, resting his chin on top of her head. They stood like that in contented silence for a few minutes, Lily breathing in the comfort of his presence as she felt herself relax after a week full of stress._

 _Eventually, James broke the silence._

" _How are the lads?"_

" _Remus is furious all the time, doesn't speak much," she sighed, shaking her head, not removing her face from his jumper, "Peter seems all right. A little jittery if anything."_

 _James hummed but didn't otherwise respond to what she'd said. Lily took a deep breath and scrunched her eyes shut tightly as she prepared herself to ask her question._

" _Are you all right?" she asked again, breaking the silence. James sighed in her hair, and she pulled back to look up into his face._

" _I've decided I don't believe it," he said after a moment. Lily raised her eyebrows, and James shook his head, "It's not possible. Not Sirius. They made a mistake."_

 _Lily grimaced, "Are you sure?"_

" _Yes," he said, and his tone indicated that he wasn't to be argued with, "It's wrong. He has as much reason to hate You-Know-Who as you do, love. And we're his family. Sirius would never."_

 _Lily continued to gaze up into his determined expression, before nodding her head, "Okay," she said, releasing her arms from around his waist, "I trust you."_

" _Where is he?" he asked. Lily sighed and shook her head. James frowned, "Nobody knows where he is? It's been a week."_

" _He's not been showing up to lessons or meals either. And he's not in the dormitory," she sighed._

" _Why didn't you check the map?"_

" _Remus said you had it," she said, bristling at his accusatory tone._

" _I don't," James said, running his hand through his hair, looking distressed._

" _Calm down," Lily said after a moment, as James began to look around, his eyes wild and full of worry, "You know him best. Where would he be?"_

 _James looked met her steady gaze for a moment, before taking a deep calming breath. His expression morphed into what Lily had come to recognize as his thinking face, and she let out a relieved breath, "Shrieking Shack," he said after a moment. Lily blanched._

" _All week?"_

" _Probably," James grumbled, ruffling his hair, "Hogsmeade is close enough, food isn't expensive there either."_

" _He should come back to the castle," Lily said, and James nodded, before turning away and hurrying towards his room, "where are you going?" she called, rushing to keep up with him as she followed him into his room._

" _I need to go get him."_

" _You can't go outside right now!" she protested, watching as he pulled on his cloak and reached for his scarf, "James! Get him to come here, he's probably freezing out there as it is," she said, and James cocked a brow at her over his shoulder._

" _How?"_

000000

 _Sirius took a deep breath as he stood outside the Heads dormitories, Lily's note James' owl had delivered clutched in his shaking hand._

 _ **We're waiting for you. Come home. L x**_

 _Murmuring the password, Sirius lifted his hand, his knuckles torn bloody from having hit the walls of the Shrieking Shack, and pushed the private Portrait Hole open._

 _Lily was in the kitchenette, busying herself with a cup of tea. She froze as the portrait swung open, and turned to catch his eye, her expression one of genuine relief as she took in the sight of him. Sirius knew he must look a right state. He hadn't changed his clothes since he'd stormed out of the dormitory, save for a few Scourgify's when he felt particularly rank, nor had he shaved for over a week. The Shack had been filthy, as usual, so he was probably covered in dirt. He suppressed a humorless chuckle; he probably resembled the version of himself Harry had seen in_ The Prophet.

 _Lily gave him a small smile, before gesturing for him to come inside with a cock of her head. Sirius took a step forwards and shut the portrait behind him. Before he could open his mouth to talk to her, to tell her anything, James' bedroom door swung open._

 _James met Sirius' gaze straight on, and for a few seconds, nobody in the room seemed to breathe. He deliberately started to make his way over to Sirius, who felt a faint flicker of panic as James' determined gaze focused on him._

 _Without stopping for pause, James threw his arms around Sirius in a brotherly embrace, holding the shaggy boy to him with no small amount of force._

 _Lily watched on as Sirius, whom she'd never seen to express any genuine emotion, broke down in front of her eyes. The boy seemed to fold in on himself, his body shaking with heart wrenching sobs as he clung to James, who for his part, continued to hold on to the sobbing boy._

" _Come on," James said after Sirius had calmed down slightly, patting his best mate on the back, "let's go find Moony and Wormtail."_

* * *

Remus smirked as the redhead made her way into his ward once more, her fourth visit in an hour. Her eyes were wide with worry and hair was piled on top of her head in a messy bun, various strands falling out and giving her the look of a woman who hadn't slept in days.

"I'm still fine, Lily," Remus chuckled, as she made her way towards him and her eyes anxiously scanned his face, "Same as I was the last time you came in."

"Don't annoy me, Remus," Lily sighed, as she began to examine him with her wand, eyes darting between his foot, elevated and covered in bandages, and the large scars on his right arm. Remus chuckled, and dropped his head back, closing his eyes, "What's the matter?"

"For Merlin's sakes," Remus laughed, not opening his eyes, "I'm tired. Last I heard, that's not fatal."

"Quiet," Lily said, rolling her eyes, before she picked up one of the charts at the end of Remus' bed and read through it, brushing her hair back out of her face.

"Someone's grumpy."

"Thanks Bernard," Lily snorted, shaking her head as the boy sharing Remus' ward snickered.

"I'm fine as well, by the way, Healer Evans," he said with a smirk, absentmindedly scratching the top of his head. His scalp, visible due to his buzz cut light blond hair, was covered in self-inflicted scratches from the full moon, a healing pink now, compared to the large gashes they had been a couple days ago.

"That's nice, Bernard," Lily sighed, shooting him a small smile over her shoulder before turning back to Remus as the boy chuckled.

"Leave her alone, she has a good reason to be crotchety today," Remus teased, and Lily shot him an annoyed look before placing his chart down on the edge of the bed as Bernard started to cackle about how 'he could tell' and that there may be 'trouble in paradise'.

"You're a rubbish friend," Lily sniffed, tucking one of her free strands behind her ear and crossing her arms.

"When can I get out of here?" Remus asked, and Lily sighed, shrugging her shoulders and looking down at her watch.

"Not yet. If you ask me, you were ready to leave this morning, but I think it's their policy to keep you lot in here for at least three days," she said, and Remus groaned, dropping his head back.

"I was always let out of the Hospital Wing sooner than this, and I swear Poppy healed me faster," he whined, and Lily chuckled.

"Well, I don't think you did this much harm to yourself in school," she said with a pointed look, and Remus smirked.

"Wonder why," he said, and Lily rolled her eyes, turning away to head towards the door, "I take it you're off to go to your party?"

"Yes and I'm very excited," Lily drawled, her voice layered with sarcasm, shaking her head and waving to Remus. Remus laughed.

"I take it I'm in here for another day as well then?" Bernard called after her, and Lily shook her head amusedly as their cackles followed her out

* * *

 _The boys sat silently as Lily abruptly got to her feet. Her hands, hanging limp at her sides, were trembling as she took in a shaky breath. The word 'Animagus' hung between the five of them like a blade, suspended in mid air, ready to strike at any moment._

 _Without so much as a glance at any of them, she turned and stormed out of the Heads dormitories, their private portrait hole shutting with a resounding bang._

" _Maybe Moony should talk to her," Peter said after a moment, looking at James, whose expression remained frozen, eyes focused on where Lily had been standing. Before Remus, who'd seemed to agree with the sentiment, could rise to his feet, James sprung up and sprinted after her._

 _He made it out in time to catch the flicker of her red locks as she turned a corner to his right, and hurried after her, "Lily!"_

 _Hearing his voice, she only quickened her pace, hurrying around another corridor to her left and down the Grand staircase, "Lily, just, wait a moment," he called, running to keep up with her. He could tell now that her intended destination was the sixth floor girls bathroom, so he quickened his pace until he managed to catch her around the waist, "Lily, just-"_

 _His voice cut off as she snatched her arm away from him, turning to glare at him with furious eyes, pinning his voice to the back of his throat. Her cheeks were wet with tear tracks, and as she continued to wordlessly glower at him, another escaped her left eye and drifted slowly down her cheek. She turned away from him and made her way towards the doorway, but, quick as his reflexes were, he wrapped his hand around her wrist once more and began to drag her backwards into an empty Transfiguration classroom._

" _Let_ go _of me! Stop it! Let_ go _!" she yelled, shoving at him as he continued to drag her. She seemed of no mind to pay attention to her volume, and James looked around frantically to make sure nobody would hurry over to see what she was yelling about, "James! I mean it!_ Stop! _"_

 _He shoved her into the room, none too ceremoniously, and shut the door behind him, locking the doors and flicking his wand to put up a Silencing charm. He took a deep breath, before turning to face his outraged girlfriend._

" _Open the door."_

" _No."_

" _Let me go James."_

" _No," he said, taking a step towards her. She pulled out her wand, and pointed it at his face._

" _Let me out of here James. I'm not joking."_

" _No," he said again, taking another step towards her. Her eyes narrowed and she took a step back, "Not until we talk about this."_

 _She let out a derisive laugh, wiping at her cheek as another tear poured out of her eye, "Talk about what? Talk about you committing an illegal act? About you now making me complicit in it if I don't report it? About the complete and utter_ stupidity _of your actions and what on Merlin's green earth_ _possessed you to make such a thoughtless decision?"_

 _James winced, "I know what we did wasn't technically right-"_

" _TECHNICALLY RIGHT?" Lily screeched, shoving her wand in her pocket (James let out an internal breath of relief at this) and taking a step forwards, jabbing him in the chest with her pointer finger, "_ Technically _? What you're doing is_ illegal _! You could go to prison! Not to mention your_ idiocy _, running around with a bleeding_ werewolf _once a bloody month-"_

 _James grabbed her wrist as she jabbed him once more, his eyes blazing as he looked down at her. Lily continued to glare up at him, her green eyes narrowed dangerously, "Werewolf?" he spat, squeezing her wrist tighter. The knot in his chest released infinitesimally as she faltered, "Not just a sodding werewolf. Remus," he said, and Lily huffed, attempting to push him off her. He wouldn't budge, "Your friend, Remus."_

" _Don't make this about that," Lily sneered, lifting her other hand to attempt to peel his off her wrist. His hand tightened, "It's not about_ Remus _, of course it's awful for Remus, but you don't' need to get yourself_ arrested _-"_

" _You going to turn me in?"_

 _He smirked down at her, but the smile didn't reach his eyes._

" _It's not- I mean- It's_ dangerous _and it's against the bloody_ law _!" she yelled, bringing her hand up to wipe at her face once more, "What were you bloody_ thinking _?"_

" _What was I thinking?" James roared, looking down at her, eyes wide, "Merlin, it's like I don't even bleeding know you."_

" _What's that supposed to mean?" she hissed, dropping her other hand to look up at him, her green eyes narrowed into slits._

" _It means I didn't realize you were so bloody prejudiced," he spat. Lily gasped, her hand falling slack in James' wrist. She gaped up at him. His expression didn't' soften, "A compassionless shrew who judges people because of things they can't control. You of all people, you're_ Muggleborn. _You face this shit all the time. Can't even break your precious morals once, can you? Why? Because he's a werewolf?"_

" _What?" she said, her voice coming out as a whisper as she continued to look up at him, taken aback, "Is that really what you think of me?"_

 _James blinked as her eyes once more filled with tears, and she looked away from him as she attempted to hide her face. He was instantly flooded with a wave of guilt as he saw her bottom lip tremble, and the words he'd thrown at her repeated in his head. He felt her begin to tug her wrist away insistently, more desperately than she had before, so he held on tighter._

" _Lily, no, I mean," he sighed, wincing as she sniffed, blinking back her tears, "Wait, look at me," he murmured, bringing his hand up to place it under her chin. Lily turned her face away, "Please, love," he said again, placing his hand against her cheek. She turned to glare at him through her tears, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it, I was just, I was angry," he said, and she narrowed her eyes, pushing at him._

" _Spilt out rather quickly for it to have been something you weren't thinking already," she accused, and James narrowed his eyes at her._

" _What is_ that _supposed to mean?"_

" _That you meant it," she said. James gaped at her, "Why else wouldn't you have thought to tell me about your big_ secret _before? You don't trust me with it. What? Did you think I'd judge? Because I'm, what was it, a compassionless shrew?"_

" _I already_ said _I didn't bloody mean it, and that's_ not _why I didn't tell you. For Merlin's sakes Lil-"_

" _Then why didn't you?" she challenged, wiping furiously at the remnants of her tears, "You made a bloody fool out of me, James! Every month, telling me it was fucking_ tradition _for you all to sit together in the dormitory and watch Remus on the map. What, did you all laugh at how stupid I must have been to buy it?"_

" _I didn't tell you because it wasn't my secret!" he squawked, and Lily scoffed, "Of course nobody was bloody_ laughing _at you! It wasn't_ about _you Lily! It's Remus' secret, you know that."_

" _No!" she said, glaring up at him, "Remus' secret is the lycanthropy. Your being a, a, a bloody_ Animagus _is_ your _secret."_

" _All right, maybe you're right about that. But it's not_ just _my secret. It's mine, Sirius' and Peters," he said, finally dropping her wrist to cup both of her cheeks. He looked into her eyes, pleading, "Can't you see that, love? That I couldn't have just told you?"_

" _No," she said, crossing her arms, "It's dangerous, not to mention against the law. Are you honestly suggesting I shouldn't report it? What if you were a Death Eater? That's illegal as well, isn't it? Why shouldn't I treat this the way I'd treat that?"_

 _James sighed, dropping his head. He knew she had a point. Of course she had a point._

" _Tell me it's the wrong thing to do, Lily," he said after a moment, opening his eyes and looking into her faltering ones, "Tell me it was a reckless, pointless decision, that it had no merit."_

" _James," she sighed, shaking her head, "It's not a bloody prank. It's not like breaking the rules in school. It's serious-"_

" _Don't you think I know that?" he cajoled, taking a step closer to her. She steadied herself, before meeting his eyes, "It's not like taking the Dark Mark, Lil. It's, it's not a black and white situation. There's no right and wrong here," he said. She continued to hold his gaze, and he took that as a positive sign, "Remus was hurting. He needed us. He needs us still. He, I mean, how else could we show him, without any doubt, that we didn't care what he was, except by being there in every way we could?" he asked._

 _Lily continued to look up at him, not speaking. James sighed and dropped his hands, "I don't expect you to be okay with this, I know you," he said after a moment, "and if you want to end this, I'll understand that too. I just, Merlin Lily, how can you tell me we did something bad?" he asked quietly into the silence._

 _Without another word, he turned away from her calculating gaze and made his way back to the door. He stopped short, hand on the knob, when she finally spoke._

" _I won't report you," she murmured. He turned quickly, not ready to believe his ears. She stood skeptical, biting the inside of her cheek, her arms crossed. Releasing a tired breath, she took a few steps forwards until she was standing next to him, "Come on, let's go and read that bloody book."_

" _You're not angry?" he asked, his voice hopeful. She rolled her eyes._

" _I'm bloody furious," she said. She met his eyes, and smiled slightly, "But I'm also charmed. As idiotic and irresponsible as it is, I have to admit it's maybe, slightly, a little brave, and frankly nothing less than I've come to expect from you," she said. James' face softened as he beamed down at her and leaned in to press his lips against hers, only to pull back, surprised, when his lips met her hand rather than her mouth._

" _Still furious," she said, shaking her head as she pushed his head away from hers._

 _With a loving smile, James threaded his fingers more securely around hers and squeezed, "All right love, take as long as you need," he said. As he unlocked the door, he felt her place a feather light kiss on his cheek, "What was that?"_

" _Don't let it get to you," she said bitterly, unlocking the door, "By the way, what exactly are you?" she asked suddenly, turning to look up at him. He smiled sheepishly._

" _A stag. Peter and Sirius are a rat and a dog," he added. Lily continued to look up at him, and he felt rather hot around the collar at the intensity of her stare._

" _Prongs," she said after a moment, and James felt a faint blush grace his cheeks as her eyes lit up with understanding, "That's why they call you that." He nodded awkwardly, and she rolled her eyes, "hardly witty when you know what it's referring," she added._

 _James visibly bristled. Lily smirked, her eyes twinkling._

" _Excuse me? Incredibly witty, I'll have you know. Did you ever guess what it was? No, no you didn't, you bought the rubbish_ Patronus _story. Not to mention how intelligible and clever we had to be to pull it off,_ and _keep it a secret for all of three bloody years. I'd like to see_ you _master becoming an Animagus, with all the transfiguration and charm work it requires, not to mention the bloody discipline, without any instruction from-"_

 _James' tirade was cut off as Lily pulled him down by the back of the neck and pressed a hard kiss against his lips. She pulled away with a giggle as he attempted to stay latched on for longer._

" _There you are," she sighed, "I was wondering, it seemed unnatural that you wouldn't brag a little."_

 _She threw him a wink over her shoulder and sauntered out the door, leaving him standing a gaping fool in her wake._

* * *

"How's Hestia?" James asked, as he strode into the kitchen, rubbing at his eyes underneath his glasses.

"You should already be dressed," Sirius snickered, as James hopped up onto the kitchen counter in his underwear and a t-shirt, "If Lily gets home and you're still like this-"

"She's coming in her Healer robes, I don't see the difference," James yawned, stretching his arms above his head, "Pass me a coffee will you, mate?"

"Make it yourself," Sirius smirked, sliding an empty mug at James as he continued to make his breakfast, "You're lucky Lily was on night shift tonight."

James snorted, "Lucky? She's been crotchety for days because of Petunia's engagement party, she'll be even worse today given she's had no sleep. I needed the bloody break," he scoffed, and Sirius sniggered.

"She really has been crotchety," he smirked, flipping his omelet. James shot him a stern look, "Don't look at me like that," he tutted, pouring himself a glass of orange juice, "I can hear you two fighting."

"She's upset," James muttered irritably.

"Justifiably," Sirius added, looking pointedly at James, who sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Yes, I mean, obviously," he grumbled, pulling at a loose thread on his boxers, "And they're just pointless squabbles really, but fuck they're exhausting," he added, and Sirius smirked.

"I'm still not making you that bloody coffee," he said with a smarmy grin, and James rolled his eyes.

"You're hardly one to talk about being crotchety as it is," he said, and Sirius snorted, turning away from him, "You didn't need to lash out at Wormtail like that."

"Shut up Prongs."

"That was fucking embarrassing last night," James added.

"He was pissing me off," Sirius said, and James sighed.

"Seems he doesn't have to do much to piss you off," James said, eyes roaming Sirius' face as the boy continued to focus on his breakfast, "This wouldn't have anything to do with Crouch's speech on Azkaban, would it?" Sirius ignored him, pulling a plate out of the cupboard above the hob. James was silent for a moment, before sighing hugely and hopping off the counter.

"Fine, I'll live without coffee," he sighed, shaking his head miserably as Sirius snorted.

"You're the laziest person I know," Sirius muttered. James shot him a wink before turning on his heel and heading out of the door.

"Stop distracting me, I have to get dressed," he called. Sirius snorted once more, flipping his omelet onto a plate. The front door opened, and he craned his neck to see a very knackered Lily enter, still dressed in her Healer robes.

"How's Moony?" he called, turning back to his breakfast, gathering the necessary utensils and heading back towards the dining area. Peter was, naturally, still asleep, and Sirius paid no attention to being quiet for his sakes.

"Sirius," Lily hissed, placing her bag down and shooting an anxious look at the still-snoozing Peter, "Keep it down, for Merlins sake."

"Merlin doesn't mind," Sirius smirked, and Lily rolled her eyes, reaching up and pulling her hair out of the bun she'd had it in. Sirius' smirk widened as her hair practically stayed in place, a red cloud on top of her head, "Think you need a shower, Evans."

"Think you need a lesson in manners, Black," Lily sniffed as she reached down to untie her trainers. Sirius barked a laugh, throwing himself down in one of the chairs and putting his feet up on the table. Turning to face him, Lily's face contorted with disgust, "Really, Sirius? You have to put your smelly feet up where we eat?"

Sirius shrugged, and Lily rolled her eyes, muttering about hygiene and a distinct lack of manners before walking past him into the kitchen. Sirius smirked to himself and took a bite of his omelet, looking up as James entered the living room, dressed in his Muggle suit, a sour expression on his face.

"What's eating you?" he garbled through his mouthful of food. James' eyes twinkled.

"No-one right now mate, but give it a few hours," he quipped, looking entirely too pleased with himself. Sirius smirked as his eyes swiveled towards the kitchen door, where Lily stood, an amused twinkle in her eyes.

"I beg your pardon," she scoffed, crossing her arms, adopting an annoyed expression. Sirius sniggered as James froze, his expression transforming into one of panic, undoubtedly expecting her to start shouting, as his eyes turned on his fiancée.

"Er, hello love, how was your shift?" he said weakly, and Lily smirked. She walked over to him and thrust a mug of coffee in his hands.

"Saw the empty mug," she said, and James beamed down at her. Sirius rolled his eyes, stuffing some more omelet into his face as James leaned down to kiss her.

"Oi!" he squawked, when the couple had yet to disconnect after the socially acceptable length of time, "I'm eating here. Take _that_ ," he gestured to their snogging faces with his knife, "somewhere else."

"Put your feet down and I'll consider it," Lily giggled, pushing James away to grin at Sirius. Sirius snorted and turned away, "and to answer your previous question, Remus is absolutely fine. His foot is still bandaged and he'll have to stay at least another day, policy reasons," she added, as the two turned to her, alarmed, "but he's well enough to annoy me."

"Then he's fine," James said, smirking as Lily smacked him in the shoulder.

"Suicidal, maybe," Sirius added, sniggering as Lily's expression turned sarcastic as she glared at him, "We all know about the legendary Mount Lily temper."

"Stop calling it that," Lily whined, as James and Sirius laughed, "I was giving you an update."

"Thanks," they said in unison, exchanging a wicked grin as Lily rolled her eyes, pushing away from James to go shower.

"Oi! You didn't tell me how dashing I looked," James pouted, and Lily turned to shoot him a grin over her shoulder as she left, "I put on this shit and that's all I get," he sniffed, and Sirius rolled his eyes, "It itches."

"You're pathetic," Sirius snorted, leaning back in the chair, arms behind his head. He let out a huge yawn. James pulled a face at him, taking a seat and sipping his coffee, "Shame about Moony, thought he'd be back by now."

James shrugged, "At least he's fine. Gets on with the bloke sharing his ward," he added, and Sirius scowled.

"I don't like him."

James snorted, "Because he said you had a feminine air."

"What a dick," Sirius agreed, and James smirked, shaking his head fondly as the other boy crossed his arms moodily. James paused as the mug was halfway to his mouth, his eyes flickering over to where Peter was lying in bed in alarm, "Figured it out have you?" Sirius said with a humorless chuckle, "don't think I've been alone in a room with him since we read that third bloody book. Your doing, I'm sure," he added with a snort.

James' eyes flickered over to Sirius, to see the boy's dark gray eyes, full of their usual bitterness, staring disdainfully at Peter's bed, "Padfoot-"

"Does this look all right?" Lily asked, entering the living room area, smoothening her hands down the pale yellow dress she was wearing, her red tresses still on top of her head in a towel, "It doesn't make me look too wide, does it?"

Sirius guffawed, pushing his dark locks out of his grey eyes as they turned on her, instantly concealing the bitterness that had coated his expression as he grinned, "Wide, love?"

"Yes, wide," Lily said, sending him an exasperated look. James' head was angled down into his coffee mug, a slight frown on his face as his calculating eyes flickered between Peter's sleeping form and Sirius' now smirking face, "You know, in the hip area," she mused, placing her palms on either hip as she examined her reflection in the glass of the window.

"Lily, you're the size of my leg," Sirius snorted, and Lily rolled her eyes, aiming a dainty kick in his direction. Sirius didn't even bother to flinch.

"Be serious, please," she ordered. A wolfish grin spread across Sirius' face and Lily groaned, dropping down onto the chair beside James, his head snapping to attention the movement, "don't do it, please," she whined, dropping her head onto her folded forearms as Sirius grinned gleefully.

He cleared his throat and pushed himself up so he was standing on his chair. He placed one foot on the table and spread his arms, "I am Sirius, love."

"I hate those bloody fucking puns," Lily grumbled, and James laughed, patting her on the shoulder as Sirius, the beaming buffoon, slid effortlessly down into his previous position; bum on chair, heels on table.

"Speaking of crotchety," Sirius smirked. Lily lifted her head to glare at him from under her towel.

"What is that, the bloody Marauder word of the day?" she demanded.

"We _should_ start Marauder words of the day," James snickered, and Lily turned to him with a smarmy glare. He simply smirked back, "Also love, I think you'd better be getting dressed," he reminded, fingering the towel atop her head, and Lily huffed.

"I am dressed," she whined, dropping her forehead back to her forearms, and Sirius sniggered, eyes flickering back to Peter for a moment as he snorted in his sleep. James noticed Sirius' jaw tighten, and cleared his throat.

"Er, Lil? We do actually have to leave soon," he said uneasily, scratching the back of his neck. Lily raised her head to glare at him, "I mean, er, we'll be late if we don't."

"I don't even _want_ to go."

"Then don't," Sirius shrugged, and Lily huffed, turning to him in a manner so exasperated Sirius' couldn't help but smirk.

"I can't _not go,_ " she spat, wanting very much to lean across and slap the smirk off the boy's face, "Merlin, you're annoying," she grumbled, pushing herself back up and heading towards the bedrooms as Sirius snickered under his breath.

"There's no need to insult Merlin, love," Sirius said, guffawing as she flipped him off over her shoulder, "And you do look wide!" he called after her. James heard her shriek of indignation, followed by the slamming of a door, and shook his head fondly.

"I'll be paying for that," he said, and Sirius sniggered.

"Better you than me, mate."

The two fell into an uneasy silence as James continued to watch Sirius, who pretended not to notice. Finally, Sirius huffed, turning annoyed eyes onto the black-haired boy, "What?"

"Just, I mean, do you want me to stay? Or, well-"

Sirius rolled his eyes as James continued to awkwardly shift in his seat, "Fuck off Prongs," he grumbled, turning away and tilting his chair back, so it was balancing on two legs.

James grimaced, "Padfoot, maybe-" Sirius cut him off with a loud groan, covering his face with his two hands as he continued to scream dramatically. James rolled his eyes as Sirius continued to scream and pushed himself off his chair so he was leaning over Sirius. He held his coffee mug above Sirius' face, and smirked as he waited for Sirius to inevitably stop screaming.

"What are you doing?"

James jumped, accidentally spilling coffee all over Sirius as he dropped the mug in shock. Sirius squawked and attempted to jump out of the chair, his heels clipping the end of the table and forcing the chair to fall over backwards, leading to more screaming on his part.

"What, the bloody _fuck_ are you sodding playing at?" Sirius roared, pushing himself up to his feet and glaring at James. James, however, had doubled over with laughter after taking one look at Sirius' position, sprawled on the floor in stained clothing. The boys' hair was sodden with bitter smelling coffee, which dripped down his forehead, onto his face and off his chin onto the fabric of his t-shirt. His sodden hair was dripping the brown liquid onto the back of his shirt and down his arms, and his furious eyes were wavering as they regarded James' cackling form, his façade finally cracking as he joined in with the snickers, "You're fucking mental," he laughed, shoving at James.

"It's not, my fault," James wheezed, attempting to straighten himself as his body continued to shake with sniggers, "Wasn't going to spill. Wormtail fucking scared me," he coughed, turning his eyes to the blond boy, who was indeed awake, sitting up and watching the pair of them as if they were barmy.

"Bastard," Sirius mumbled under his breath, and James shot him a warning look as Peter continued to frown.

"What are you doing?" Peter repeated, and James shrugged, picking his now empty coffee mug off the floor just as Lily made her way into the living room, dressed and ready to go. Her green eyes flitted from James, bending over, to the coffee stains on Sirius' shirt. Sirius smirked as her eyes narrowed, swiftly turning back to James.

"Did you really think this was the best time to douse Sirius in coffee, James?" she scolded, and James rose, baffled, as he turned to look at her. Peter smirked into his lap as Sirius openly sniggered.

"I didn't do this on purpose!" James countered, placing his mug down on the table a tad more aggressively than he'd originally intended.

"James, just don't right now," Lily said, rolling her eyes as she looked at her reflection in the mirror. Sirius smirked at the back of James' head as he saw the boys' chest puff out angrily, and sat back down, crossing his arms as he prepared to enjoy the show, "I really don't have the time or patience-"

"I didn't do anything," James gritted, eyes narrowing as they zeroed in on her eye roll, "Stop being so fucking condescending."

"He's covered in coffee, have you got a better explanation?" she taunted, raising her brows and turning to face him, arms crossed. James' jaw tensed. "There's a time and there's a place, minutes before I have to go for this Merlin-damned party isn't either."

"Well maybe it's the perfect time, given you've been so bloody moody about the whole thing," James shot back. Lily turned her head towards him, her eyes narrowed.

"That's not fair James."

"And this is?" he chuckled derisively, cocking a dubious brow at her, "You jumping down my throat for no reason, like you've been doing ever since you found out about this-"

"Well what did you expect me to think?" she hissed back, gesturing towards Sirius, who shrunk back into his seat, "I come out here to see him covered in coffee and you picking up a cup which I know for a fact was full a few minutes ago. What would you have thought, hm? Given your history?"

"Given my _history_ ," James sputtered, frowning at her, "What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

"Don't act stupid," Lily scoffed, rolling her eyes, "You lot always pulled this rubbish in Hogwarts, I don't know why I expected you to be any different-"

"Because I routinely threw coffee at my friends," James snorted. Lily huffed, picking up her bag and placing it on her shoulder, "You know Lily, you could act the least bit grateful that I'm coming with you to this bloody thing after you've been acting like a fucking child-"

"Well don't come then!" Lily exploded, turning on James, her face red and her emerald eyes gleaming, "If it's such an inconvenience to you then just stay here! Throw more coffee at Sirius for all I bloody care! Don't do me and my childish self any favours!" she cried.

"Well maybe I won't!" he yelled back, throwing his arms up in frustration, "Merlin knows you'll only be sulking at the bloody thing as it is-"

"Well if it's such a trial for you then I don't want you to come!" Lily yelled, blinking quickly as her eyes began to fill with tears. When James didn't say anything, only continued to glare at her, she sniffed, muttered a quick, "Bye guys," to Sirius and Peter, who awkwardly gestured in her direction, before she turned on the spot without so much as a glance at James.

James threw himself back into his chair with a huff, ignoring the wary glances he was getting from the other two in the room as he glared down into his lap, muttering angrily to himself. He looked back up at where she'd been standing for a few moments before letting out a big sigh. Shaking his head, he pushed himself out of the chair, ignoring Sirius' smirk, and turned on the spot.

* * *

The second Lily's feet touched down in the dark alley down the street from her parents' house, the safest point to apparate without being noticed, she regretted having left. Smoothening out her dress, she took a deep breath and turned out of the alleyway.

As she made the journey down the street, past the three or four houses she needed to cross, she scolded herself for her behavior. James was obviously right, she knew she'd been incredibly difficult to live with the past few days, what with constantly picking fights and lashing out at the poor boy. He didn't deserve it, Merlin knew she knew that, but ever since the day she'd found her wedding dress- something that arguably should have been accounted for the perfect day- and her older sisters' outburst, she'd been fighting a constant urge to burst into tears.

"You're an idiot," Lily murmured to herself, shaking her head as she turned onto her parents' driveway, thinking that James was probably right and she really was going to spend this entire party sulking. However now it would mostly be because he wasn't there. She took a deep breath as she raised her hand to ring the doorbell.

She couldn't bring herself to push the button.

She just couldn't.

Lily glared at her finger hovering over the doorbell of her _own house_ , as if the offending appendage itself had started to retaliate. She was being stupid. Of course she could do this. It was only her family, for Merlin's sakes.

 _Press the button_ , she urged herself, before sighing and lowering her hand. She closed her eyes and took another deep breath, feeling the lump rising once more in her throat as the reality of the situation bore down on her.

She was going to her sisters' engagement party

To a man she didn't like, who hated her

She wasn't even invited.

Petunia didn't want her there.

That last part was what stung the most, she thought. The fact that Petunia had actively made sure that she wasn't invited, and that when it came to her parents' attention, Lily would be the one blamed. _Clever bitch_. Lily chuckled as Alice's eye roll and muttered indignation floated through her head.

 _I suppose this just means it'll probably never get better_.

Those words hadn't helped either, even though she'd been the one to say them. But it had felt better when she had said them.

 _That's because you knew James would understand._

"Stupid brain, stop reminding me," she grumbled, lifting her head with newfound purpose. _It would ring this time_ , she thought, glaring down at her finger.

Before she could, a hand shot out from behind her to press the button.

"Pathetic," James snorted, as the chimes of the doorbell rang inside her house. His jaw was still tense and she could see that he was still annoyed, "I saw you try before, honestly Lil if you're this reluctant to be here maybe we should-"

But what they should do Lily never found out, because at that moment she grabbed him by the front of the shirt and pulled his mouth down to hers. She could tell it had taken him by surprise, but as ever, he adapted quickly, and she felt his hand on her lower back, pressing her body closer to his, "Let's not fight," she said breathlessly, pulling away from him and gazing up into his wide eyes.

Naturally, he smirked, all traces of his previous anger having vanished from his expression, "I think it'd be more accurate if we just agree that _you_ should stop-"

"Shut up," she chuckled, grinning as she shook her head at his antics, "I'm sorry. I just-"

"I know," James murmured, kissing her once more, a gentle press of his lips against hers, "I'm sorry too."

"Thank you," she mouthed, squeezing his hand, "And I do think you look dashing, for the record," she added, and he guffawed.

"Finally," he sniffed dramatically, reaching out the press the doorbell again despite her flapping hands and the 'stop it James someone's coming', "I've only been waiting a half hour to hear that."

"Well you haven't told me how pretty _I_ look so you've no leg to stand on," she quipped. James snorted.

"First of all, no leg to stand on my arse, or have you forgotten the frequent attacks I've been under?" he said, and Lily flushed, "And secondly, you always look ravishing love, so forgive me for not being a complete ponce who says it every time you put something on…or take something off," he added with a wink, and Lily rolled her eyes, shoving him with her shoulder as her face turned about the same shade as her hair.

"You have an entirely one-track mind," she muttered, and he snickered.

"Well given the past few days I'd say I've earned-"

"That's enough," Lily chuckled, and he grinned, "I really am sorry, I know I'm taking it all out on you, it's just-"

She hummed in content as he kissed her again.

"Take it out on me as much as you want, love," he chuckled, "That's what I'm here for. And Merlin knows you've never held back before." His eyes glinted mischievously as he hid a smirk.

"A simple 'you're forgiven' would have sufficed," she grumbled, as the boy sniggered at her deepening blush.

"Is anyone going to answer this bloody door?" he squawked suddenly, making her jump as he reached forwards again.

"James _leave it_ , Merlin you've no patience, someone's coming-"

"We've rung it _twice_ , it's been _five minutes_ Lil, no one is-"

The door opened, and James' mouth shut quickly, repositioning itself into a friendly smile as a finely dressed Andrew Evans opened the door, a curious frown on his face.

"Were you two arguing?" he asked by ways of a greeting, and Lily rolled her eyes as James smirked.

"Always, Mr. Evans," he said, reaching his hand out. Andrew let out a short laugh, shaking James' hand and turning to smile at his daughter.

"Suppose you'd better be used to that," he said, putting his arm around his daughter and pulling her into a hug, ignoring her squeak of indignation, "This one's always had the most fiery temper. Must be the hair, my mother was the same," he shrugged, and Lily rolled her eyes, pushing past her father as he and James snickered like schoolboys about redhead tempers.

Lily froze, realizing the entire bottom floor of the house was full of well-dressed guests she didn't recognize, and turned back, reaching for James' hand. His hand was warm.

"The house looks great Mr. Evans," James said, and Andrew rolled his eyes.

"Save that one for Jane," he snorted, and James laughed, "and I swear James, if you call me Mr. Evans one more time-"

"James, darling!" Jane exclaimed, appearing from nowhere, dressed in a satin pink cocktail dress that complemented her blonde hair, "How wonderful to see you," she said, happily pulling him into a hug. Lily exchanged an amused look with her father, "Oh, and Lily dear!" she said happily, letting go of James to pull her youngest into a loving embrace, "You look beautiful," she said, pulling back to beam at Lily, "And the hair? Did you do it yourself? It looks professionally done, really Lily, if you're this talented you can just do everyone's for the wedding!"

"Which one?" Andrew snorted, and Jane sent him a scolding look.

"You know where everything is, darling," she said, ignoring her husband and beaming as her eyes landed on James and Lily's connected hands, " _Everyone_ is here, even Aunt Margaret!" she said, her smile seeming slightly forced at the mention of her estranged sister-in-law. James covered up a laugh with a cough, "and James dear, you just _have to_ meet Vernon's side of the family, I've told them all about Lily's future husband!"

She turned at a distant call of her name, and sent a quick smile at the couple before hurrying away towards it, "She's been like this all day. It's maddening," Andrew grumbled, groaning as she turned, gesturing for him to come with her, "Careful Lil, most people here are Dursley's and Vernon's friends, so watch your mouth."

He sent her a stern look before making to follow after his wife. Lily gaped after him, affronted, as James sniggered freely, watching as Andrew trudged over to his overexcited wife.

"Really Lily, that mouth," James tutted, and Lily shook her head fondly, fighting off a smile as she led him into the mass of humans in front of her.

* * *

Remus smirked, looking up from the Daily Prophet as Bernard let off a loud groan. He cocked an eyebrow at the boy, earning another groan in response.

"I'm sick of sitting here," Bernard said tersely, crossing his arms as he glared at the doorway. Remus chuckled and shook his head amusedly, looking back down at the newspaper, "You know their rule to keep us in here this long is absolutely bogus, we heal significantly faster than normal people."

"Three times faster," Remus put in, smirking as Bernard rolled his eyes.

"You'll get killed if you keep correcting people," he said, flicking an invisible lint on his blanket before sighing once more, turning his head to look at Remus, whose eyes were still scanning the Prophet, "what are you reading anyway, that's so interesting?"

"Nothing," Remus sighed, folding the paper and grimacing, "This thing is useless now," he said, nodding at the paper. Bernard snorted, "I swear not a single piece of actual news gets printed in it."

"That's the best part, mate," Bernard snickered, reaching for his wand on the bedside table, " _Accio Prophet_!"

"Oi!" Remus squawked, attempting to grab the paper. Bernard reached out and seized the paper as it came flying towards him. Ignoring Remus' glare, he cleared his throat and opened the paper.

"Let's see, well, this one looks interesting," he snorted, eyes widening with mirth as they took in the headline, "'Celestina Warbeck is the latest star to promote Sleekeezy's'," Bernard sniggered, "Their standards really have fallen, callin' her a star," he grinned at Remus, who rolled his eyes, "This is proper entertainment mate, don't know what you're sulking about," he added, turning the page and clearing his throat, "Knockturn Alley store closed down for dark object possession'."

"What?" Remus scoffed, cocking an eyebrow at Bernard, "It doesn't say that. It can't actually say that," Remus groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose.

At this, Bernard burst out laughing, head falling back so his crown rested against the wall, paper folded in his lap. Remus shook his head, fighting a smile as the other boy continued to lose it, "That is by far, the best headline I've ever read," Bernard wheezed, smirking at Remus.

"You've a rotten sense of humour," Remus snorted. Bernard grinned.

"Thanks," he said, turning the page of _The Prophet_ , "You going to be here next month, mate?" he asked nonchalantly, and Remus rolled his eyes.

"What do you think?"

"Good," Bernard said, turning the page once more, "We'll have so much to talk about."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Remus asked, cocking a brow. Bernard smiled enigmatically.

"Ha! Look at this one, 'Gladrags clothing store recruits half-vampire as model'," he sniggered, "There's a first for half breed employment, eh? It'll be our turn next."

* * *

 _Sirius walked out of what felt like his hundredth detention to find Remus standing outside the door to the dungeons, waiting to receive him._

" _This is a pleasant surprise," Sirius said, and Remus rolled his eyes, pushing himself off the wall and taking a step closer to Sirius. Sirius knew what was coming, he could sense it in Remus' body language, and cleared his throat, bracing himself, "Fancy a stroll in the grounds too? Something a mite more romantic?"_

" _Listen," Remus said, ignoring Sirius' nonsense as only Remus could, "I know what Prongs said," he said, and Sirius stiffened, his jaw tightening as Remus met his gaze. Sirius was surprised to see the open hostility in his expression, and he faltered slightly. He'd never expected to end up on Remus' bad side, "He and Lily don't' believe what the book says, and Wormtail was naturally happy to follow their lead," he added with an eye roll._

 _When he didn't continue, Sirius cut in, "you think they're wrong," he stated, and Remus sighed._

" _I hope they're right," he said, meeting Sirius' eye once more, "I think they're right, but I wanted to make this clear," he said. Sirius nodded for him to go on, and Remus' gaze hardened, "If you do anything to betray their trust, and I'm not saying you will, I won't be there to stand by you," he said._

 _Sirius blinked, slightly taken aback, before letting his face fall into a grateful grin. Remus cocked a brow at him, "Thank you."_

* * *

It wasn't until Petunia saw them there that James realized attending the party had been an exceptionally brilliant idea. The blondes expression was the purest expression of shock he'd ever seen, it was almost worth all the fighting of the past couple days

Lily noticed the smirk growing on James's face and elbowed him in the side, "James."

"But look at her Lily," he sniggered, leaning his head down to whisper in her ear, "she looks absolutely appalled that you had the nerve to show your face!" He sounded almost giddy at the thought.

"And you said coming wasn't a good idea," she whispered back. James was unable to hold in a guffaw, earning him irritated expressions from one of the Dursleys.

"If I'd have known we'd be here, surrounded by these people," he whispered, after directing a pointed sneer at the offending Dursley, "back when we read that first bloody book…"

"Thanks, I'm flattered," Lily deadpanned. He smirked down at her, "always a pleasure to know your fiancé wouldn't have dated you because of who your bloody sister chose to marry."

"As long as we're clear," he hummed, grabbing two chutes of champagne off the tray of a passing waiter, "I'm pleasantly surprised by how roomy this event is. I'd imagined bodies mushed together"

Lily snorted, "where did you think we were going?"

"Oi," he snickered, handing her one of the glasses, "just meant because of how large the groom to be is."

James grinned as Lily choked on the champagne. He looked around, amused, eying the Muggle clothes with an air of superiority. He snorted as he noticed a woman wearing a large pink hat.

"What now?" Lily sighed exasperatedly, and James nodded towards the lady. Lily rolled her eyes, fighting a smile, "That's rude James."

"What's rude is her choice of headgear," he quipped. Lily shook her head fondly, grabbing onto his hand, smiling as she began to maneuver them towards the canapé table, "If I'd have known I'd be so offended at this gathering I'd have adjusted my own outfit accordingly."

"I'm sure," she deadpanned, reaching out to pop a cocktail sausage in her mouth, "This is really good," she added, handing him one, "Besides, just what do you own that would be as offensive as that hat?" she asked, cocking a suspicious brow at him. James winked, popping the sausage in his mouth. Lily rolled her eyes, "of course you'd suggest coming in the nude."

"I said no such thing," he smirked, tugging at his tie. Lily slapped at his hand, and he dropped it with a scowl, "You're the one obsessed with me in the nude."

"When have I ever said that?" Lily squealed, giggling as he scowled at another large hat in the room.

"I mean, why are they even wearing those?" he said after a moment's silence. Lily giggled, "We're _indoors_."

"It's fashion, James," she said airily, waving her hand nonchalantly.

"You're not wearing one of those to our wedding, are you?"

"No," she scoffed, and James let out a sigh of relief, "Why? Would you refuse to marry me?"

"You bet, I mean, look at that one," James scoffed, sneering at the back of another hat-adorned head. Lily knocked him with her elbow.

"You'd better behave," she warned, looking around the room to make sure no-one had seen James' behavior, "Besides, I think Mum's going to try and throw one of these for us, so you'll see your fair share of ugly hats," she grimaced. James' jaw dropped.

" _What_? Why?" he squawked, looking completely bewildered by the very suggestion that he should be made to tolerate such an event. Lily took one look at him and giggled, grasping his tie and pulling him towards her, "Evans, please, remember what I said about obsessed-"

Lily pulled his head down to hers, her lips meeting his smirking ones, effectively cutting off his useless tirade.

"Now, Evans, if you're not careful I'll drag you to your room," he murmured against her lips.

"Lily," a voice hissed, and Lily jumped away from James, face red as her hair, as she turned to face her stern mother, "If you could please behave yourself, we have company," she nodded towards the rest of the room, none of whom seemed to have noticed the embracing couple, a manic look in her eyes.

"They're not the voyeuristic sort like you apparently are, Mum," she said, grinning cheekily at her mother as she released James' tie. James bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from grinning.

Jane pinched the bridge of her nose, making a visible attempt to refrain from yelling, before turning a stern eye on her youngest, "Have you come and said hello to your sister yet?" Jane asked. James squeezed Lily's waist as the redhead stiffened, her chin tilting up defiantly, "It is her engagement party Lily, what will people say?" she scolded. Lily opened her mouth (James, having no doubt that she was going to tell her mother exactly what she thought of this suggestion, winced) but before she could say a word, Jane placed a comforting hand on her cheek, "I know, do it for me," she added with a soft smile, before turning and heading away from them. Lily bit her lip, looking up at James, who shrugged.

"Unfortunately visiting with your sister may be unavoidable," he said, and Lily groaned, before allowing James to tow her in Petunia's direction, "Don't worry love, we can tour the other hats."

"Oh shut up, James," Lily said, fighting off a laugh as James gestured towards a large purple one closer to the bride, "Besides, that one's probably my favourite of the lot," she added. James snorted, and Lily grinned, "It goes shockingly well with my wedding dress, actually."

"Not on your life," James chuckled, throwing his arm around her shoulders and pressing a kiss to her temple as he guided her towards her sister.

* * *

 _For the second time, Lily dropped the book the pages had burned her. It seemed James had been right. Sirius would never have betrayed them._

 _She just hadn't expected that someone else in the room would._

 _Her eyes flew to James, to find he was already looking at her, his face frozen, his jaw clenched tight. She opened her mouth to find something to say, before shaking her head, turning to look at the others._

 _She saw Remus first. His expression was one of utmost disgust. At some point during the scene Lily had read in the Shrieking Shack, Remus had placed his hand on Sirius' back; an apology and forgiveness, encompassed in one gesture. It was the first time she'd seen Remus make contact with Sirius in days; he hadn't even done so much as shove him. Remus' eyes met Lily's for a split second, before he warily turned to regard Sirius, who was trembling as he looked down at the floor. Lily could see the muscles in his back were tight from the way he was leaned forwards, his elbows resting on his knees as he stared at the carpet._

 _Peter simply looked…confused. There was no other word for it, she felt. He was gaping down at the book, his mouth opening and closing like a fish as if searching for something to day, some justification, but unable to find any. The book was almost over, there was little room for redemption; and he knew it._

 _Before anyone could say a word, Sirius made a noise that caught her attention. She didn't think the others had noticed, lost as they were in their own emotions; James had surpassed anger and now looked ill, Remus seemed to be searching for some sort of rationalization or piece of comfort, and Peter was still lost in his own despair. Listening closely, Lily thought it resembled a snarl. A threatening, dangerous sound that an animal would make before it attacked._

 _She was on her feet a split second before Sirius pounced. He let out a hoarse roar, a noise of the blackest anguish, as his gray eyes, so full of betrayal that Lily felt her breath catch, pierced into the blond boy who now sat frightened on the floor; the perfect prey._

 _Lily hurried to place herself between Sirius and Peter before Sirius could hurt the latter. Placing her small hands on his chest, she began to push him backwards, towards to the exit of the Heads dormitory. To his credit, Sirius allowed himself to be steered as he screamed profanity at the blond boy._

 _The last thing Lily saw as she exited the room was Peter crumble in on himself, burying his face in his knees and succumbing to agonized sobs as Remus and James turned away from him._

* * *

It was late evening by the time Sirius got back to his flat. Hestia, having heard of Sirius' spat with Peter when he'd gone to see her the night before, had invited him to spend the day at her place. She had received a pay rise the previous week for agreeing to take on the article of Voldemort (a topic she and Sirius resolutely avoided discussing), and had decided to redecorate her flat. What Sirius had thought to be an incredibly sweet and selfless act by his girlfriend, in reality turned out to be a clear case of being taken advantage of, as Hestia spent the day instructing Sirius on where to place various items of furniture. When he'd finished setting that up, she'd coerced his help in painting her walls. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Sirius had flickered some paint in her direction. Safe to say, they'd never finished painting the walls.

Nevertheless, Sirius found himself in a rather upbeat mood as he got home, shutting the door behind him and turning towards the living room with a smile on his face. It was five in the evening now, a half hour after Lily and James were due to return.

Sirius' face fell as he saw only Peter, seated in his twin bed with the same book in his lap, was there to receive him. Peter looked up at Sirius and attempted to give him a timid smile, but the expression turned out more a pained stretch of his face. Sirius resisted the urge to gnash his teeth.

"Where's Prongs?" he asked sharply.

"They're not back yet," Peter answered, sounding apologetic. Sirius scoffed, his good mood vanishing as he realized he was alone in the flat with Peter. A first. As far as he could remember, the last time he'd been alone with Peter was the day they'd found the third Harry Potter book; approximately a year ago.

Peter placed his book down on the bed, and cleared his throat. Sirius narrowed his eyes, "Listen, Sirius, I, um, I, I'd just like to talk to you about-"

"No," Sirius growled, toeing off his shoes and picking them up in one hand, storming towards the bedrooms. Peter pushed himself off his cot and hurried after Sirius, keeping a careful distance between them.

"I know you're not thrilled with me, I don't blame you at all, if it was me I'd be ex-exactly the same," Peter tittered after Sirius, following him into his bedroom. Sirius threw his shoes in the direction of the cupboard. Peter winced as they hit the wood with two loud bangs, "We have to talk about this though or-"

"Or what?" Sirius scoffed, glaring at Peter, "Talk about what?"

Peter took a deep breath, "I, er, I mean, listen I can't, I can't change what we heard in those books."

Sirius froze, and Peters eyes widened as he realized what he'd said, "No! No! I didn't mean that!" he squeaked, taking a few panicked steps backwards away from the glowering boy, "I just meant I can't change what happened last year, or all of this year as well, I suppose, I, er, I was just as shocked as you were to hear it, mate-"

"Don't call me that," Sirius snarled, and Peter gulped, shaking his head as Sirius stormed out of his own bedroom and back towards the living room. Taking a determined breath, Peter hurried after him.

"That's fair Sirius, it is, I just," Peter cleared his throat again, stopping as turned to glare at him. The two now stood in the middle of the living room, on either side of Remus' bed, "I wanted to apologize, to move past it."

Sirius paused, holding Peter's wavering gaze with his own hard one. Peter looked away, down at the floor.

"I'm sorry, but I can't change what we heard. I'd never do that to you-"

"But you did," Sirius snapped, "And you _would have_ if fucking fate hadn't interfered and we hadn't found those Merlin damned books. And that's the reality."

Peter shook his head frantically, and Sirius' gaze turned harsher, "It's not reality, it's not how it is. Everything is different-"

"Everything is different _now_ ," Sirius said harshly.

"Well now is what we have to focus on, isn't it?" Peter squeaked hopefully, "I mean, all that with you in Azkaban isn't reality, Sirius, you have to face facts and try to move on, if not forgive-"

Sirius fist hit Peter's jaw with such force that it knocked the blond boy over. He fell backwards onto his bed, and slid down to the floor, clutching at his wounded cheek, as he looked up at Sirius, terrified. Sirius stood over him, his breath heaving as he glared down at Peter, his fist still raised, his body angled to the side from the swing.

"I'll never forgive you," Sirius hissed. One look into his eyes and Peter knew Sirius had meant what he'd said. Their friendship was over, and it was time for Peter to accept that and move on.

"I forgave, when it was you," Peter murmured, meeting Sirius' stormy eyes with his watery blue ones. Sirius' eyes flashed. With one last remorseful look up at the boy he considered to be one of his best friends, Peter turned on the spot and disappeared.

* * *

 **Sorry, this is very long overdue, as is becoming the norm with this story, it seems. I've given you a mammoth chapter (with flashbacks!) to make up for it though, so I hope there won't be any hard feelings!**

 **I'm not going to make any more promises about how I'll be speedy etc etc, but I promise I'll keep writing and updating this story. I hope you'll be there to keep reading when I do!**

 **Happy New Year to everyone out there! I hope your 2018's are the best year yet.**

 **t.t xx**


	14. Nineteen the First

**Disclaimer: I am not J.K. Rowling. I do not own any of the rights to the Harry Potter franchise. I am not earning money by writing this story.**

* * *

Sirius stood frozen in shock as he stared down at where Peter had been. Those poisoned words the blond boy had thrown at him before he disappeared seemed to echo around the room as Sirius shook his head, trying to forget them.

 _I forgave, when it was you._

"Fuck you," he growled, curling his hands into fists at his side, as he looked around the room, wanting something else to hit, something to destroy, something to absorb all these horrible emotions inside of him. He wanted the anger, the anger was justified, and he was allowed the anger but the hurt? The betrayal? He didn't want those emotions, the ones that made him want to scream and cry and hit and hide at the same time. Sirius wasn't a boy who was used to emotion, he'd spent most of his life shoving it down and hiding it away.

 _I forgave, when it was you._

He tried to summon his anger from a few seconds ago, to lose himself in blind rage, to condemn the boy who was once his best friend for a bitter lie, but the words he'd spoken had poured ice water over his flames of fury, and he couldn't find it. His hands grabbed at his hair, his fingernails raking his scalp, as he shook with residual fury. His body felt cold as the anger drained out of him, as if he were made of it, as if without the burden of hating Peter he was nothing any more. As if he were now a shell.

Sirius shuddered violently as he heard his description of himself, a shell. Exactly what Harry had described him as in those books. What he would have been if they hadn't intercepted the future.

Was there no other way for him?

Was becoming a shell of a man all that he had waiting for him?

He let out a loud groan as he sunk down onto the bed behind him (Remus', he though absently), and dropped his face into his hands as his legs trembled. He wasn't ready to forgive Peter. He didn't know if he ever could. He'd never been the kind who had let go of a grudge; even _he_ knew that to be one of his worst faults. Those had been grudges coated in pettiness, in schoolboy arguments. His grudge against Peter was real, as real as a grudge against another human could be; one of life and death…

…wasn't it?

* * *

"Thank you for coming with me," Lily hummed, wrapping her arms around James' neck and hugging her body closer to his.

"Any time," James chuckled, rubbing his hands up and down her back, "You ready to go?"

"I was ready to go when we got here," she giggled, and James smirked down at her, dropping a quick kiss on top of her head before unwrapping her arms from around his neck.

"Come on then, let's go. I think my arse is sweating in these stupid trousers," he said, and Lily laughed, reaching up to drop a quick kiss on his chin before taking a step back, her eyes twinkling as she grinned up at him.

"I wasn't aware your arse perspired so much."

"Neither was I," he grumbled irritably, "I'm too scared to sit down. The cushions will be soaked."

"Interesting," Lily mused, and James cocked and eyebrow at her, "My arse never sweats."

"You've got some ventilation," he sneered, reaching out to finger her dress, which ended just below her knees, "Mine has been swaddled in cloth all day."

"Sounds like it's been very well cared for," Lily giggled, reaching her arm around to pat him on the arse. James squeaked and looked around, panicked, "Don't worry, my hand isn't soaked," she added, reaching up to pat him on the cheek with the same hand.

James shot her a sardonic look, and slapped her hand away from his face, "First off, sweaty arse hand doesn't touch the face," he said, placing her hand firmly by her side. Lily smirked, "And secondly, I'm more worried about someone here seeing you molest my arse in public," he said, and Lily laughed.

"I can't help it, it's so cute," she said sweetly, cocking her head to the side.

"Lily."

"Why? Afraid they'll want to try?"

"I'll have you know, I enjoy a good arse pat," he scoffed, rolling his eyes, "I have no aversion to arse patting."

"So it's the voyeurism that bothers you?" she teased, taking a step forwards, and James set her a scolding look, before taking a pointed step away from her to regain a respectable distance between them, "This is funny, it's usually you inappropriately touching me," she said, taking another step towards him. James crossed his arms and glared at her. She smirked as she noticed him shuffle back slightly, probably under the impression that she hadn't noticed.

"We are at your parents house," he said sternly, and Lily grinned cheekily up at him, "Your father could show up from within this throng of overweight Muggles at any time," he said, and Lily gasped.

"James," she hissed, and he winked at her.

"Am I wrong?"

"Always," she said, taking another step towards him. He sent her an exasperated look.

"Did you not hear what I just said?"

"I did," she hummed, holding back a laugh as James reached out to put a hand on her shoulder and push her away gently, "But I think you're discounting the fact that I have a perfectly private bedroom upstairs," she added with a wink, and James rolled his eyes.

"So you're asking me to come upstairs with you and engage in all sorts of scandalous and unmentionable activities in the middle of your sisters engagement party, right under your family's and the Dursley's noses?"

"How could you suggest such a thing?" Lily gasped, placing her hand on her chest, green eyes wide with faux innocence as she looked up at James. James groaned.

"Oh come on Lily, that's not fair."

"What's not fair?" she asked, her eyes twinkling up at him. James opened his mouth to retort, trying to find his sensibility as she took another step closer to him because he knew that it was a bad idea but _Merlin_ it was tempting as fuck, when Andrew appeared to his right.

"There you kids are," he said, and James shot Lily an 'I-told-you-so' look while she held back a laugh, "I've been looking for you for ages, I thought you'd disappeared up to your room to escape," he said, and Lily winked at James, who smirked back at her.

"We were just about to," Lily said, smiling like the perfect angel up at her father.

"No, we weren't," James added. Lily smirked at him.

Andrew shot James a confused look, before turning back to Lily, "Anyway, Petal, I'm glad I found you before you left, your mum wanted the six of us in a group photo," he said.

"Six of us?" Lily frowned, and Andrew rolled his eyes.

"Yes, and I don't want any drama about it," he said. Lily opened her mouth to retort, but James cut in before she could say anything.

"Sounds lovely Andrew, lead the way," he said. Andrew gave him a brief smile before turning and heading towards where James assumed the other three were waiting.

"It does not sound lovely," Lily grumbled. James chuckled, and grabbed her hand as he directed them through the crowd, to where he could now see Andrew standing with Jane, "I won't even smile."

"We can be that couple who doesn't smile in photos," he said, and Lily rolled her eyes as she let him drag her. She hummed as she directed her eyes towards James' trousers.

"I really am getting the best view back here," she said, and James squeezed her hand playfully as he reached his other one up to ruffle his hair, "You should probably lead arse first, or even in the photo just bend over, I promise I'll smile if I know I'll get to look at your arse every day."

"And people think _I_ have a one track mind," James chuckled, throwing his arm around her shoulders as they finally escaped the throng of bodies and reached the back window of the Evans' house, where everyone was posing for photographs, "Also isn't the point of marriage that you're together every day?"

"I'll stick around if I get a daily show," Lily quipped, and James rolled his eyes as she grinned up at him.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were just with me for my arse."

"It's not just your arse," Lily said, nodding politely at Vernon's sister as she her eyes tracked her, "It's also the rest of your body."

"Glad we have that clarified," James said, eyes flickering to Vernon's sister, "What is she staring at?"

"Not your arse, don't worry."

James looked down at her with a sarcastic expression plastered on his face. Lily winked, "Enough about my arse for one day, yeah?"

"There can never be enough of you arse for one-"

"All right, that's enough," James chuckled, ruffling his hair as they finally approached the rest of the Evans family. Petunia seemed to be arguing with her mother about something. They were doing it in whispers; so only when they got closer did James hear the words 'photograph' and 'them'. He grimaced as he looked down at Lily, who had clearly heard the same, to see her expression had turned stony, "Are we doing this?" James asked Andrew as they stopped next to them. Jane turned at the sound of his voice and beamed at the two of them.

"Oh wonderful, there you are!" she said, excitedly stepping back to arrange her family into position. James held back a chuckle as Petunia nearly stumbled as Jane dragged her into position, "I thought we could have Petunia and Vernon here, and, Andrew…Andrew where are you? Oh, good, there you are," she said, grabbing her husbands' arm and placing him a little ways from Petunia, "You and I will be in the centre, I'll stand next to Petunia, and Lily, come here," she said, as she tugged Lily's hand so she was stood next to her father, "I'll slot in right here in this gap, and James dear, could we please have you on the other side of Lily?"

"We get dragged and he gets 'could we please'," Andrew grumbled, and both Lily and Petunia giggled. Upon realizing the other had laughed as well, both girls stopped short. Andrew sighed.

James got into position beside Lily and let her place her arm around his waist as the photographer excitedly chattered and attempted to tweak the positions of their heads and their arms or whatever else, "If this was a moving photograph he wouldn't have to try so hard," James murmured to Lily. The corner of her mouth pulled up into a half smile for a split second before disappearing, "Want me to moon the camera?" Lily rolled her eyes and squeezed his waist tighter. He smirked.

"Okay, Evans family, big smiles now, one, two…"

As the photographer counted up, James wrapped his arm around Lily, careful to place his right hand on her arse. She started, and let out a surprised laugh, and James beamed at the camera.

"Three!"

* * *

Sirius was icing his hand in his lap when Lily and James apparated into the flat, approximately two hours after Peter had disappeared. They were holding in their arms brown paper bags from the Muggle grocery store near Lily's parents' house.

"You went shopping like that?" Sirius scoffed, eying Lily's pale yellow dress and James' tuxedo.

"The Muggles at the store thought James looked like a magician," Lily giggled, winking at Sirius as James rolled his eyes and went to deposit his bag in the kitchen. Sirius snorted, hiding a wince as he twitched one of his fingers.

"What would that make you?" he asked, attempting to infuse some enthusiasm into his voice instead of allowing the bitterness and anger to alert the couple that something was wrong.

"The beautiful assistant of course," she said, flicking her red locks over her shoulder as she dumped her bag on the dining table. Sirius released a humorless snort, "I take offence to that. Not all of us can look like Hestia, I'll have you know," she sniffed, unloading the contents of her bag; salt, pepper, apples, grapes and soap.

"You're ten times prettier than her," James said, having reappeared from the kitchen, as he dropped a kiss on top of her head. Lily shook her head amusedly, "No offence mate," he added, and Sirius shrugged.

"Only ten?" Lily sniffed, and James chuckled, grabbing the empty bag from her and chucking it at the bin, "James, we can recycle that!"

"Let's not bring up that Merlin-damned bin again," James said, nodding at the blue bin near the dining table that had played the villain in their last drunken lads night.

"Just because it won, doesn't mean you need to destroy the environment," Lily tutted, levitating the balled up paper bag James had chucked to the recycling bin, and dropping it inside, "Have you lot been neglecting the recycling bin in my absence?"

"Yes, and it didn't _win_ , I won," James said, sneering at the bin. Lily giggled, reaching her hand up to pull her hair out of the bun it had been in, so her hair cascaded down around her shoulders and down her back. She let out a happy sigh, "Better?" James snorted, and Lily nodded happily, getting up on her tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek. As she rocked back onto her heels, her eyes flickered to Sirius, and widened in alarm.

"Oh Merlin! Sirius, what happened?" she gasped, side-stepping James so she could crouch down in front of Sirius, her eyes focused on the bag of ice resting on his reddened knuckles. She pulled out her wand as she chucked the ice pack to the floor, and lifted her free hand to gently inspect his hand.

"Watch it Evans, you're ruining my carpet," he said, nodding at the wet mark the ice was leaving on the floor.

"Do you now sniff out injuries?" James snickered, reaching down to pick up the bag to deposit the melting ice in the sink. Lily ignored them both as she frowned down at his hand.

"Odd, I swear I didn't see this this morning. What have you been doing since we left? Punching walls?" she snorted, tapping her wand on the knuckles and sending in a wordless Healing spell. Sirius released a sigh of relief as he flexed his fingers.

Both of them were blind to the way James had frozen in the doorway, ice bag still in hand.

"Yeah mate, it's my new hobby, haven't you heard?" Sirius drawled, rolling his eyes as Lily chuckled, standing up and kicking off her heels, "Squatting in those? Hestia would be impressed," he said, and Lily scoffed and shucked him aside his head.

"She would not, she could probably run a marathon in them," she said. Sirius chuckled, nodding in agreement, "I think I'll just go-"

"Where's Peter?" James interrupted, his voice a little too loud, his tone calm. Lily froze as she heard the underlying fury in her fiancé's voice, and turned questioningly to face him.

"James?"

"Where. Is. Peter?" he repeated, turning to face Sirius. Sirius scoffed.

"How the sodding hell should I know? I'm not his bloody minder-"

Lily's eyes flickered from Peter's empty bed to Sirius' hand, and she gasped, "Sirius, you didn't! Please tell me you didn't," she said, shaking her head as she looked down at him. Sirius scoffed and rose to his feet, pushing past Lily to head towards his bedroom, but wasn't able to make it more than a couple steps before James grabbed his arm.

"Get off me," Sirius near growled, turning to glare at James, who glared back at him.

"What happened to your hand?"

Sirius' eyes flashed, "That's none of you-"

" _What happened_ to your hand?" James repeated through gritted teeth. His fingers were squeezing Sirius' arm so tight it was becoming uncomfortable.

" _Nothing_!"

"Sirius," Lily said, standing next to James, her arms wrapped around herself. Sirius looked away from them, "Sirius," she repeated, and his eyes flickered to her before turning away again, "Did you…did you punch Peter?" she asked hesitantly. Sirius' eyes flashed to her, and she sighed as James' jaw clenched.

"Are you fucking stupid? What the fuck have you done?" James growled. Sirius shook James' hand off his arm and sneered at him.

"Get off your high fucking horse Prongs. Don't give me that patronizing shit-"

"Why did you do it?" Lily interrupted, cutting off Sirius' venomous rant as the muscle in James' jaw ticked, a sure sign he was about to start shouting.

"What do you mean, why did I do it?" Sirius retorted, punctuating it with an empty cackle, " _Why_? Maybe because he never should have been here in the first place? Maybe because he's a fucking weasel and we can't trust him? Maybe because he's useless _as fuck_ and the lot of you have been pretending otherwise and just bloody _forgetting_ that-"

"That is _enough_!" Lily cut in sharply, and Sirius glared at her as her green eyes bored into him.

"Don't tell me you haven't noticed that everything around here has been so shit," he spat, "He's made this place a living hell for the last couple days, or maybe _you_ didn't notice," he sneered, "Since you were so busy being an emotional bloody wreck-"

"Watch it," James snapped, his eyes flashing as Lily blinked up at Sirius, taken aback. She couldn't remember a time he'd ever spoken to her like this; he'd always been the one snapping at James when James would say something particularly harsh to her.

"It's fine James," Lily said after a moment, taking a step forward and looking up at Sirius with a determined expression on her face. Sirius frowned, taking a step back, "He's not wrong, I haven't had a particularly pleasant disposition these past couple of days," she shrugged, "But I'm also not the one who punched one of our friends, so I don't really know where you get off giving me a hard time," she added, pointing at Sirius, who bristled.

"One of our _friends_? Are you bloody mental?"

"Are you?" Lily countered, placing her hand on James' forearm as he shot Sirius a warning look, "Because there are only two ways your brain could be going right now, and neither one of them would have me convinced that it made sense to punch Peter," she said, and Sirius snorted.

"Don't be ridiculous-"

"Either you believe so strongly that he's going to betray us and turn us all in to You-Know-Who," she said, raising her voice to be heard over him, "and that no matter happens to him or what we say he's going to become that same person who we read about in the books. Or else," she said, walking over to Peter's bed and picking up one of the pieces of parchment littered on and around his cot, covered in his untidy scrawl, "you recognize that what we read hasn't happened yet, and that reading those may have altered Peter's proverbial path in life, and that there's a possibility that he's trying as hard as we are to ensure he doesn't become that person," she said, as she walked back over to Sirius and pushed the piece of parchment against his chest. She pulled her hand away, and Sirius instinctually caught it before it could fall to the floor, "Because that brainwave would also recognize that nobody is working harder on this Horcrux project than he is, because not only do the rest of us have other things to do, we also don't have as much to prove. Or need I remind you that it was Peter who went to Diagon Alley and found those books? Or that those," she said, nodding to the pieces of parchment littered all around Peter's bed, "compiled would probably be a taller stack of parchment than either of ours," she gestured to the bookcase, where their stacks of parchment sat in organized piles. Sirius blinked at her, "So basically Sirius, either one of these opinions on Peter would afford it stupid to punch him. Because either you're pushing him to You-Know-Who a few years early, or you're making it that much more difficult for him to feel like he'll succeed at not becoming who we're all scared of. Which one is it?"

Lily crossed her arms and cocked her head to look up at Sirius. Sirius looked down at the parchment in his hands, littered with different spells used to detect hidden magic, some of them crossed off with Peter's script detailing 'too hard' or 'doesn't work' next to them, before looking back up at Lily.

"You don't have any fear that he's with You-Know-Who now?" he asked, his voice quiet anger, "You're telling me you're completely converted and trust him so entirely that you would never doubt-"

"I worry, yes," Lily cut in, "Of course I'm not an idiot, Sirius. There's a part of my brain that is convinced he's with You-Know-Who as we speak. But you can't discount the facts, and the facts are the amount of work he's done on the Horcrux project, that fact that he's tried to apologize hundreds of times, and, frankly," Lily chuckled humorlessly, shaking her head, "if he'd gone to You-Know-Who already, we'd be dead by now. There's no way he'd have let us live knowing what we know," she said, gesturing around the room.

Sirius shot her another glare before storming off. Lily winced as his bedroom door slammed.

"You should've become a Ministry Lobbyer," James mused after a moment, his mouth pulled up in an exasperated smile as he looked down at her, "Rational arguments in no amount of time? The legal system would love you," he added. Lily rolled her eyes and made to follow after Sirius, but James grabbed her shoulder, "Leave him be," he said, smiling slightly as she looked up at him with disbelief all over her pretty features, "He needs a cooling off period before he's ready to be rational."

"James, we can't just leave him by himself-"

"Yes, we can," James said, pulling her so her back was against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and dropped his chin to her shoulder, turning his face to press a soft kiss to the side of her neck, "Let's go make dinner, he'll come out when he wants to talk."

"I'm too agitated to make dinner," Lily huffed, turning around to look up at James. He held back a chuckle at the look of petulance on her face, "What if Sirius is right? What if Peter's gone to You-Know-Who?"

"Then we'd know by now," he said gently, "You said it yourself. He wouldn't let us live another minute if he knew what we were up to."

Lily sighed, turning to look over her shoulder, "Can I at least go check on him and make sure he's-"

"No," James said, shaking his head.

"Then what can I do?"

James grinned down at her, "Well, there's a private room over there…"

"Are you suggesting we go into our bedroom and engage in all sorts of scandalous and unmentionable activities right under Sirius' nose?" Lily gasped. James laughed.

"Well, I mean, there's no Andrew Evans here to materialize from between overweight Muggles-"

"Wishful thinking then," Lily hummed, and James sniggered. As he leaned down to press his lips against Lily's, Sirius' bedroom door opened with a bang, and she squeaked, jerking away to look over her shoulder just as Sirius stomped into the room, his striking face settled in a miserable pout.

"Let's go find the bastard," he grumbled, and Lily rolled her eyes as he nodded at James, who sighed and straightened away from Lily.

"I'll go get changed," James muttered, and Lily smirked as he strode towards their bedroom, grumbling about how Sirius could have taken even an hour longer and James wouldn't have minded, and would anyone ever give the two of them some quality arse-patting time and how unlikely that was in this cruel and seemingly sexless world.

"I'll stay here, you know, in case he comes back," Lily said, gesturing around the flat, and Sirius nodded. He looked down at the floor and scuffed at a piece of lint with his right to.

"Sorry," he muttered, and Lily's eyebrows shot up, "Shouldn't have said some things to you."

"Don't worry love," Lily said, smiling gently at him as she reached out to punch his arm, "Just don't do it again."

"Yes mum," he chuckled, raising his eyes slightly so he met hers, the strands of his dark hair falling handsomely into his face as he peered at her through them, "You're not angry?"

"Maybe a little, but I knew you'd see sense eventually," she shrugged. Sirius rolled his eyes.

"You have a lot of faith in me."

"I like a lost cause," she quipped. Sirius guffawed, revealing to Lily the first genuine smile she'd seen from him today.

"Guess that's why you're shagging Prongs."

" _Marrying_ ," she corrected, flushing a deep red as Sirius smirked at her all wolfishly and Circe be damned if he wasn't already back to his usual self. James hurried back into the living room, now dressed in his Muggle jeans and jumper. He cocked a brow as he noticed Lily's flush and Sirius' smirk.

"Do I want to know?" he asked Lily, who shook her head, before sticking her tongue out at a snickering Sirius.

"Get lost," she sniffed at him, and he barked a laugh, leaning forwards and surprising both James and Lily by pulling her into a true brotherly hug.

"S'later," he said, releasing her and turning to James, who after a moment rolled his eyes and shoved Sirius towards the front door.

"Bye love," James said, leaning down to kiss Lily chastely, "Owl us if he comes back."

"I'll be thinking of your arse while you're gone," she said, and James snorted as Sirius frowned at them.

"Do _I_ want to know?"

"You? Probably, pervert," Lily sniffed, and Sirius saluted her as James rolled his eyes and shoved Sirius out of the front door.

* * *

It was with a deep breath (and a lot of liquid courage in his system) that Peter apparated into Sirius' flat. His first impression of it was that everyone was asleep- the fact wouldn't have surprised him; he had very little doubt that they'd continued on with their lives as normal. They were probably even relieved he'd left. The living room was deserted, cast in the early morning glow of a sunrise hidden behind gray London clouds. There was a bite in the air, a sure sign they were approaching November, and Peter had been only too glad to have been wearing a jumper. He'd had to transfigure some gloves; Merlin knew his hands were always the first to freeze, and he wasn't interested in losing any fingers.

Peter snorted, swaying slightly as he thought about the irony of wearing gloves so he wouldn't lose fingers, when he'd apparently been all too happy to cut one of his own off. He made the decision to go to his bed and take a nap, knowing he'd had so much to drink that Sirius' outraged yells at his return when he finally woke up would not penetrate his sleeping psyche. Toeing off his trainers and stripping out of his jeans, he threw himself down on the bed, shuddering at the cold mattress, and tucked his knees into his chest to generate some warmth underneath the covers.

Peter jumped as a high pitched scream echoed through the living room, only to be greeted by an alarmed Lily, dressed in flannel pajama bottoms and one of James' Quidditch jerseys, standing in the middle of the living room with her hand on her heart.

"Oh!" she gasped, taking deep breaths and closing her eyes, "Peter, you gave me such a fright. I didn't realize anyone else was here!"

Peter continued to stare at her as she calmed herself down, watching as her flush diminished and she started to breathe at a normal pace. He didn't say anything- frankly he didn't know if there was anything to say. 'Sorry' didn't seem to cut it. It had hardly been his fault that he'd been _asleep in his own bed._

"Sorry," Lily said after a few moments, shaking her head and releasing a small laugh, "I think I scared you more than you scared me just now. I didn't realize you'd come back already."

"S'fine," Peter shrugged, biting back the sting at how nonchalant she'd sounded about his departure. Clearly, he'd been right. The sight of him must have triggered her fright, especially if she was hoping he'd never come back.

Lily bit her lip as she looked at him, sitting upright under the covers, his blonde hair disheveled, his trademark watery blue eyes bloodshot, "Do you, er, want some tea?" she said after a moment, her voice shaking slightly. Peter cocked a brow at her.

"You want to have tea with me?" he asked after a moment. She nodded her head jerkily. Peter thought she looked like she wanted to do the opposite, "You don't have to Lily, it's fine," he said. Her eyes widened and she shook her head quickly.

"No, I really do. I'm used to company when I get ready for work as it is," she said, gesturing around the flat, "It's unsettling how quiet it is in here. It's usually always bustling with some noise at least, I mean, especially with James actually _living_ in the same room as me, I don't think I've had a silent moment since we left school honestly."

Peter looked unimpressed by her tirade. She could hardly blame him.

"And I, er, I mean, we haven't had a chance to talk in a while," she added awkwardly, as he continued to look at her blankly.

"Have we ever chatted one-on-one?" he asked, and Lily frowned. He could tell her mind was working to figure out whether he was right. He didn't know- he couldn't be expected to remember with this much Firewhiskey in his system.

"I don't…know," she said after a moment, before offering him a tentative smile, "Offer's on the table if you're up for it?" she said. He thought she looked nervous, but he couldn't be sure; after all, he'd never had much of a chance to get to know her as well as the others. She and James had started going out during the Christmas of Sixth Year, and they'd read about Harry's third year at the beginning of Seventh Year. He'd always considered her a friend, but never in as close regard as Remus and Sirius seemed to hold her. To him, she was always 'James' girlfriend' over 'his friend Lily'.

"All right," he said warily. She seemed pleased. She moved into the kitchen to make the tea and Peter, as soon as she was out of view, hurriedly pulled his jeans back on. He heard the water start to boil. It seemed she was feeling as awkward about this situation as he was. Figuring it was the polite thing to do, he started to make his way over to the dining table.

He'd forgotten, however, to factor in that he'd spent the last several hours lost in a bottle.

Lily hurried to the doorway of the kitchen as she heard the loud 'thud', to see Peter sprawled across the living room floor, right near his bed. He looked up at her from where he was lying on the floor.

It was his expression of shock that did her in, and laughter bubbled up and out of her windpipe. Peter rolled his eyes as she brought her hand up to cover her mouth, but his irritation only goaded her further, and she succumbed to her laughter. Peter felt the corners of his mouth turning up into a wry smile as she continued to laugh

"You can help me up," he said after a few moments, and she chuckled.

"I probably should," she said, wiping away her tears of laughter as she stumbled over to him. He grabbed her hand and pulled himself upright. She smiled slightly before turning around to fetch the tea. Deciding nothing so embarrassing could happen again, he took large steps to the dining table and fell into a chair. Thankfully, Lily didn't come back out with the mugs until he was already seated, "Here you go, milk and no sugar," she said, placing it in front of him. Peter blinked.

"How do you know how I like my tea?"

 _Was this a trap?_ Peter thought, panicked. Were James and Sirius actually hiding in the flat here somewhere, had they told her how Peter liked his tea? Were they hiding from him? Or hiding to attack him? Was Lily just supposed to keep him distracted?

Lily frowned, her hand holding the mug hovering in front of her face, "Why wouldn't I?" Peter continued to look blankly back at her. Lily placed her mug down, "I mean, we've only been friends for over a year, in which we've had breakfast together hundreds of times. I've made you tea here before as well, haven't I?" she added. Peter sent her a sad smile. She couldn't understand why he looked so agitated.

"Don't think so. You must be thinking of Sirius, he takes his tea the same," he shrugged. He lifted the mug to his lips and took a sip. For a second, he wondered if it was poisoned. Sirius, for sure, hated him enough to do it. Did they think he wouldn't change? Was this their solution? He looked once more at Lily's kind face, and dismissed the thought entirely. He took another sip.

Lily cleared her throat as she took him in. Her green eyes scanned him from head to toe; his hair was disheveled, his jeans were on inside out, his trademark watery blue eyes were bloodshot, but other than that he looked like his normal self. Except…there was a droop in his shoulders; she couldn't remember if they'd always been that way or if that was something new. The bags under his eyes were more defined than they'd been a year ago, that was for sure…and he seemed older. Not in a wiser sense or in a way that everyone eventually would be, but as if stress and a general lack of being well kept had aged him.

Peter was convinced it was coming soon. The accusation. Soon, Lily would say she thought he'd been with You-Know-Who. That after his fight with Sirius he'd decided to switch sides, and let fate happen the way it wanted to.

The two sat in silence for a few moments- Peter trying to figure out what was going on, Lily watching him – before Peter cleared his throat. Lily blinked, snapped out of her trance, and took a sip of her tea.

"How was your party?" he asked into the silence.

"It went a little better than I'd expected, actually," she said, smiling slightly, "Petunia was, naturally, as horrid as you'd expect, but I actually managed to have a decent time. I don't really know why," she chuckled, taking another sip of her tea. Peter shrugged.

"Probably because Prongs was with you," he said, and Lily nodded, "He can usually make dull events fun," he added. Lily laughed.

"It is a talent of his," she said, shaking her head fondly, "It seemed to take a toll on him though," she added. Peter cocked an eyebrow, "I think the Muggle fashion was too much for his delicate psyche, the women's hats were all he could think about," she said. Peter stared at her blankly before his lips pulled up into a grin and he let out a snigger.

"I hope someone wears them to your wedding," he said. Lily laughed.

"I think we're on the same team there," she joked good-naturedly, taking another sip of her tea, "Though I don't fancy being left at the altar."

"It'd never happen," Peter said, shaking his head.

"Then we'll campaign for more hats," she said.

The two fell into another silence, this one not as awkward as the last but certainly not companionable. There hung over them a dark cloud, like a balloon full of something that when popped would drench them in darkness.

"So what are your thoughts on Hestia's article?" Lily asked after a moment. Peter looked up at her, stunned, "What?" she asked, confused, as she brushed a lock of her hair back.

"Why are you asking me this?" he asked. This was it. Hestia's article on You-Know-Who. Peter, who was supposedly in league with You-Know-Who. The one connection. He almost hated himself for being right. He'd gotten comfortable.

Lily shrugged, "I mean, I just figured-"

"What? That I had an inside perspective on how You-Know-Who would take it?"

Lily gaped as Peter glared at her. His eyes seemed more watery than usual. His face was slowly turning red.

"Peter, I-"

"That's where you think I've been, isn't it? You think that's where I went after Sirius punched me?"

"No," Lily said, shaking her head quickly as Peter's left hand curled into a fist on top of the table and he closed his eyes.

"Then _why_ would you ask _me_ -"

"Because I thought you'd have a different opinion!" she rushed the words, blinking rapidly as Peter turned back to look at her, "I mean, since you're joining the _Prophet_ , I mean, I don't know, maybe you'd take her stance on journalistic integrity over mine," she said. Peter deflated as he noted how wide her green eyes had gotten and how quiet her voice had become. He drooped down in his chair, resting his face in his hands.

They sat in silence once again, this time however, Lily felt the tension could have been cut with a knife. She wanted to speak to him, to offer words of comfort, but she didn't know how to break through, "Peter, I-"

"Don't," he said, his voice coming out muffled through his hands as he cut her off, "Let's just, forget about it," he said. He rubbed his hands down his face and brought them back down around his mug. The pressure of his hands had left streaks on his face. His eyes remained downcast, "You'd have all probably been happier if I didn't come back."

"James and Sirius are out looking for you," Lily said after a few moments. Peter snorted, "No, they are. They've been looking since we got back."

Peter shrugged again, taking a sip of his tea. Lily sighed, wrapping her hands around her mug to warm them, and pulling her legs up underneath her.

"It's cold," she said. Peter shrugged. She sighed again before shaking her head, "Look, we've never really talked like this," she said, clearing her throat as she looked down at her tea, "So I don't know if I'm going to say the wrong thing."

"Don't think you've ever made a mistake in your life," Peter said after a few moments. Lily released a breathy chuckle.

"You've never seen me when I'm around my sister," she said, taking it as encouragement that Peter's mouth pulled up into a half smile, "Peter I just, I just," Lily sighed again. She didn't know what she was trying to say, but she knew she had to try and push it out, or else Peter would never recover, "I just want you to know that I can see you're trying," she said.

Peter slowly raised his head to look at her. She was biting her lip and honestly looked a little terrified. It comforted him that she was as scared of him in this moment as he was of her, "You hate me," he said after a moment. Lily's eyes widened.

"No! No! I don't!" she squeaked, looking genuinely panicked that he had that impression of her. It made him smirk a little, "I don't _hate_ you, I don't even dislike you if I'm being honest."

"You don't trust me," he said. Lily sent him an apologetic look.

"Not entirely, no," she said, shaking her head slowly. Peter nodded.

"I know," he sighed, rubbing his hand down his face, "I don't know how to change that."

"Me neither," she admitted with an apologetic smile, "Time, I guess, is the only way out of this mess."

Peter snorted, "Yeah. Time. Time and something heroic, by me," he scoffed, "Never been the heroic kind, unfortunately."

Lily rolled her eyes, "All of you boys are exactly the same. Idiots, the lot of you," she said, shaking her head fondly. Peter laughed, "Trust doesn't need a grand gesture. Just honesty and patience."

"You should write a book," he said. Lily rolled her eyes. Peter looked back down at the table for a moment, before meeting her eye, "Honesty, you say?"

"I think you should be honest with the boys," she said, nodding her head. Peter scoffed, "No, I really do. They don't hate you either, you know."

"Sirius'll give you a run for your money," he said.

Lily shook her head slightly, "Surely you can see why he's struggling," she said after a moment. Peter shrugged, before nodding his head. Lily smiled slightly. Her eyes drifted down to the watch around Peter's wrist, and she gasped, pushing herself up to her feet. Peter's eyes followed her, "I'd better get ready, I've got the longest shift in the world today," she said. Peter chuckled.

"How long?"

"I leave around half past seven," Peter looked down at his watch to see it was ten to seven, "the shift starts at eight, and I'm not back here until after Remus is discharged tomorrow," she shuddered. Peter raised his brows.

"Why so long?"

Lily sighed as she gathered their now empty mugs. Peter smiled his thanks, "With the increase in the number of attacks they've decided to work us harder rather than hire more people," she said. Peter snorted.

"Sounds dumb."

"Well, you can see their logic, I suppose," she replied from the kitchen, placing the mugs in the sink and waving her wand so they'd wash themselves, "They're reluctant to bring in new hires because you don't know who you can trust and who's just at the hospital to, I don't know, attack the staff or the patients or something," she said. Peter felt hot with shame.

"An inside man," he said. Lily grimaced.

"That's what they're afraid of."

"Aren't we all," he said under his breath. Lily stopped in her tracks, and sent him an apologetic look.

"I didn't mean-"

"Leave it Lily," he sighed, rubbing his forehead. She bit her lip.

"I still think you should talk to them."

"I already told Remus," he said after a moment. Lily nodded.

"Try James next," she said. Peter lifted his head to look at her, and she smiled encouragingly, "He worries, but he also worries about you. He was upset when he heard of what happened, with Sirius yesterday I mean," she said. Peter frowned.

"He told you that?"

"He didn't have to."

Lily sent him a quick smile before turning away and heading back towards the bedrooms. Peter watched her leave and felt his heart rate speed up.

"I wasn't so awful to him when we thought he'd done it," he called after her. Lily stopped and turned around to face him, "I didn't punch him when I thought he'd killed me," he added, shaking his head. Even from a distance, Lily could see that his eyes had started to tear, "I forgave him and believed he wouldn't do it. Why can't he do the same?"

Lily's heart ached as Peters entire frame seemed to tremble as he fought back his tears. She'd never considered it from that perspective. Peter hadn't even blinked when James had brought Sirius back to the dormitory after they'd read the scene in the Three Broomsticks, and Sirius had been his potential killer then.

"Because he's Sirius," she said after a moment, sighing as she crossed her arms over her chest, "He's only ever trusted a handful of people. I suppose it's just harder for him," she said. Peter wiped at his eyes with his thumb and forefinger, settling against them as his elbow rested on the table. Lily took a deep breath. She didn't know what she was supposed to say next, but she couldn't just walk out while he was in pain. Biting her lip, she took a few steps towards him and sat back down at the table.

"Don't you need to get dressed?" he asked, his voice choked. He brought his hand down to wipe at his cheeks at the few tears that had escaped his eyes.

"I have time," she said gently. Hesitantly, she reached her hand forwards to cover his with hers. Peter jumped at the contact, but didn't twitch his hand away. Lily noticed his ears were pink, and bit back a grin. Peter, always shy around women.

Peter cleared his throat when he'd finally managed to pull himself back together, and Lily pulled her hand away as he opened his eyes and looked at her. His eyes were now more bloodshot than they'd been before, "You'd better go get dressed or you'll be late," he said, and Lily smiled, pushing herself to her feet. Peter followed suit, but swayed so dangerously that Lily instinctually reached out to steady him.

"Are you okay?" she asked, fighting off a smile as he attempted to steady himself with the table, "Peter, are you drunk?"

"I _was_ ," he grumbled, pushing her off him and attempting to make his way back to his bed. Lily smirked and grabbed his elbow to help him along as he lost his balance again.

"I've never known you to be so coherent on alcohol," she chuckled, smiling as he dropped down into his bed with a distinct lack of grace.

"I stopped drinking three hours ago," he muttered, looking down at his legs. Lily bit back a laugh at the look of confusion on his face, "Been walking around since…have my jeans been inside out this whole time?" he asked.

Lily laughed, "I'll see you later," she said, grinning as Peter flushed and slapped his hands over his face with a loud groan.

* * *

"Oh, come on mate," Sirius sighed, trudging after James. The bespectacled boy seemed to pay him no mind, as he had been doing for the last few hours, "You'll have to talk to me sometime."

James simply shook his head and sped up his steps, turning around the corner ahead to see if Peter was in the alley behind Florean Fortescues. They'd been searching for him all night; they'd gone to his mums house and peered in through Peter's bedroom window, they'd gone to Mungos (under the cloak) to see if maybe he'd gone to visit Remus, they'd even apparated to Hogsmeade and searched the Shack, Hogs Head and Three Broomsticks to see if he'd decided to go there instead. Diagon Alley had been last on their list- it was the closest to the flat. He officially wasn't booked into the Leaky, nor was he wandering around the streets of Diagon Alley. James had started to get desperate by now, and Sirius muttering under his breath about how You-Know-Who was going to show up at any moment with Peter by his side weren't helping.

James bit the inside of his cheek as Sirius muttered about why they were even bothering with finding Peter and surely there were all better off without him.

"Did you hear nothing Lily said?" he snapped, turning around to face Sirius, who barely reacted as James glared at him.

"I heard everything she said," Sirius said nonchalantly, shrugging one of his shoulders as he glanced to the left- his attempt at looking for Peter, "she spoke for bloody ages. I thought she'd never stop."

"So you pretended to agree with her?" James said through gritted teeth. Sirius rolled his eyes.

"No, I mean, I acknowledged she had a point, and so she does. I just don't agree with her."

James rolled his eyes and turned to storm away. Sirius groaned, "Oh come on Prongs, how much longer are you going to act like a pissy third year-"

"You _punched_ Wormtail!" James exclaimed, turning around and jabbing Sirius in the chest with his pointer finger, "You _punched_ him Sirius! What did he even say to you?" Sirius simply met James' eye, and the boy scoffed, "Nothing, just as I thought. He was just there, Sirius."

"He was definitely talking to me," Sirius bit out, and James snorted.

"Anything less than him saying you belonged on Azkaban and he did the right thing wouldn't deserve a punch," he said, and Sirius' gaze darkened.

"You saying I belong in Azkaban?"

"Of course I'm bloody not," James scoffed, shooting an irritated look over his shoulder at Sirius as he turned away from a closed Flourish & Blotts, "You know I'd never say that, don't be daft."

"But you think Peter would say that."

" _No_ ," James groaned, rubbing at his temples as Sirius started to follow him back to the Leaky. He'd given up by now. It was almost seven, Lily would be leaving soon, and he had to leave for work in a little over an hour. He hadn't slept, he needed a shower, and he just wanted Lily to give him a Pepper Up Potion before she left, so he could survive the day.

"What time do you want to leave for the Ministry?" Sirius asked, and James shrugged, ruffling at his hair, "Moody said today was going to be a rough day," he added, and James groaned, dropping his chin to his chest.

"I forgot we were dueling again today," he grumbled, and Sirius smirked, "I'm too tired to duel."

"You'd better perk up mate, or else you'll be one of the dummies," Sirius warned, clapping James on the shoulder, "And while you're my best mate and all I'll definitely choose to practice on you over the others."

"Thanks," James deadpanned. Sirius smirked, "Seems you're well up for harming your mates," James added spitefully. Sirius' smirk dropped.

"He's not my mate," he said slowly. James let out an inaudible sigh.

"Has it occurred to you that you may hate him so much for what he did in those books because he's still your mate?" James asked. Sirius ignored him, crossing his arms and keeping his gaze focused forwards. It was clear he had no intention of responding to James, but the boy could see in the calculating gray of Sirius' eyes that he'd planted a seed of doubt.

"Well, if you're going to practice on me at least make it a good curse," James said after a moments' awkward silence. Sirius sniggered.

"Cruciatus good for you?"

"Splendid, thanks," James snorted, shoving at Sirius, as the boy continued to smirk.

"Actually I reckon I'd prefer the Imperius," Sirius mused, stroking his chin thoughtfully. James rolled his eyes as they turned into the building Sirius inhabited, "I could make you do anything I like."

"Sounds dirty," James snickered. Sirius rolled his eyes, "Try it on Hestia, think you'll have more fun with that." Sirius snorted and shoved James in the shoulder, the latter snickering like a child as they ascended the stairs to the third floor.

"Don't let Lil hear you say that," Sirius warned, causing James to snicker again as they approached the final staircase.

"Where is Hestia anyway?" James mused, and Sirius rolled his eyes, "I haven't seen her around in a bit."

"I didn't invite her over with the awkward war you and Lily have been in the last few days," Sirius snorted, and James smirked.

"Fair," he shrugged, "When did you last see her?"

"Yesterday," Sirius sighed, shaking his head fondly, "She made me rearrange her furniture."

"I reckon she's just using you for your body mate," James sniggered. Sirius winked, and James laughed, as he reached out to twist the doorknob and let them into the flat.

They were greeted by Lily, who was standing in the kitchen doorway eating a bowl of cereal as she chatted with Peter, who was sat up in bed. Lily stopped talking as soon as the door opened, and Peter's face turned a sickly gray as his eyes met Sirius' before he averted his gaze into his lap.

"Oh," James said, before smiling slightly, "There you are," he said. Peter raised his head to shoot James a bewildered look, "We've been looking for you all night. All right?" he asked.

Only Lily could see the wariness in his expression as he smiled at Peter.

"You two must be knackered," she said after Peter shrugged, clearly unable to speak with Sirius standing there looking crestfallen by the boy's appearance in his house, "Don't you have to leave for work soon?"

"Yes," James grumbled, turning to watch Sirius as the boy, without so much as a word, turned and walked over towards his bedroom, "Can you give me a Pepper Up? I won't survive a day of dueling otherwise," he said, and Lily smiled.

"No problem, I'll go get it," she said, placing her bowl of cereal down on the table. She leaned up to peck him on the cheek, and whispered into his ear, before she pulled away, "talk to him."

James gave a subtle nod as she made her way to the bedroom, before taking a deep breath and fixing a smile on his face, "So where've you been all night?" he asked.

"A bar," Peter said, still looking down in his lap, "Spent most of the night at the Leaky, then walked around Muggle London for a bit."

"Oh, we literally just checked the Leaky," James said. Peter nodded.

The two fell into an awkward silence, when Peter finally sighed, dropping his head down into his hands.

"I can't do this Prongs," he said. James grimaced, "It's too awkward. I don't know how to talk to you lot. Lily kept telling me to," he added bitterly. James chuckled.

"She does that," he said, shaking his head fondly. Peter snorted.

"It's annoying."

"Tell me about it," James sighed. Peter lifted his head to pin James with his watery blue gaze.

"I think you lot hate me," he blurted out. James' eyebrows shot up.

"I don't hate you," he said. Peter looked skeptical, so James continued, "I mean, I'm not thrilled about what we read but you're still my mate right now."

"Right now," Peter repeated, and James grimaced.

"I don't know what's going to happen," James admitted, an apologetic expression on his face, and Peter sighed, nodding his head.

"I'm scared of it going the bad way," Peter said. James nodded.

"I know, and I mean, Lily has a point. You've done the most Horcrux research, you're clearly trying not to go that way," James said awkwardly. Peter nodded, before chuckling. James frowned, "What?"

"She's so small and sweet, I never thought she'd end up being so bossy," Peter said. James guffawed.

"She uses logic and reason. It's almost impossible to win against her," James sighed. Peter snickered.

"You hold up all right," he said, and James smirked.

"You hold up all right doing what?" Lily asked as she walked back into the room, shaking a vial of potion between her fingers.

"Dealing with you," James said, and Lily shot Peter a withering look. He snickered. James beamed as Lily handed him the vial, "I love you!"

"I'm sure," she said sardonically. James chuckled, uncorking the vial and downing the potion in one. He let out a satisfied groan as he felt the exhaustion drain out of his muscles almost instantaneously, "I'll give you another one, it'll wear off by the time lunch hits," she said, and James nodded, smiling dreamily down at her.

"Lily?" he crooned, and she cocked a brow at him.

"What?"

"How much do you love me?" he asked. Lily rolled her eyes.

"What do you want?"

"A neck rub?" Lily opened her mouth to protest but James cut her off, "Please? Please, please, please, _please_ Lily? I have to do so much dueling today, and I was up _all night_ , and I went to that stupid party with you didn't I?"

Lily bit back a laugh as he continued to beg and plead with her, "All right, you big baby," she said, and James beamed down at her.

"Does it include a complimentary arse pat?" he asked, and Lily burst out laughing, grabbing his hand and leading him towards the bedroom, "See you later Pete," he said over his shoulder, and Peter chuckled, settling himself in and turning onto his side to fall asleep, "Lily, you're the best person ever," he said as she pushed him towards the bed. He lay down on his stomach and let out a loud moan as she perched on his tailbone.

"I haven't even touched you yet," she laughed, leaning forwards as she prodded at his neck and upper shoulder area, seeking out the various knots of tension, "Stop being so dramatic."

"Oh that's rich coming from you," James snorted, and she grinned as she began to knead her thumbs into his neck, " _Fuck_ that's heaven. This is why I'm marrying you," he said, groaning again as she ran her thumbs up to sides of his neck. Their bedroom door burst open, causing James to yelp, and Lily snorted as Sirius stood in the doorway, a sardonic expression on his face.

"Last I checked, he's supposed to be on his back," he said, nodding at James, who lifted his left hand up to stick his middle finger up at Sirius. Lily rolled her eyes.

"Thank you for your input Sirius," she said, and he smiled at her as she renewed her kneading. James groaned loudly again, and Sirius sniggered.

"Clearly my input wasn't necessary," he said, and Lily shot him a chastising look as James whined into the mattress for her to 'kick him the fuck out', "Want to sit on me next, Lil?"

"Not on your life," James said, and Sirius sniggered, throwing himself none-too-gently down onto the mattress, causing James to bounce, "Stop it, I'm trying to relax," he whined, and Sirius chuckled, placing his heels on James' shoulder blades. Lily tutted and pushed his feet off as James whined again, "Lily!"

"Clearly those weren't my heels," Lily scolded, as she renewed her massaging. James grumbled incoherently into the mattress, causing Sirius to snicker once more, "Shouldn't you be getting ready anyway?" she asked Sirius, who shrugged.

"Takes about a minute. He's not getting ready either," he added, and Lily shook her head fondly as James reached out to shove Sirius, who grinned and kicked him.

"I swear, it's like having children," she sighed, rubbing at her temples.

"What's that about having children, love?" James asked, and Lily rolled her eyes to the heavens as Sirius sniggered and began to prod at James, telling him to 'get ready', "I'll blow off work if you're interested."

"I have no doubt," she said dryly, pushing herself off James, who protested loudly about abuse and his poor neck and come on Lily why won't you help me, "I have to go to work," she laughed, as James sat up and grabbed at her, attempting to pull her back onto the bed, "No! Stop it James, I'm going to be late!"

"I'm not going to see you for ages," he pouted, and Lily grinned, leaning forwards to kiss him. Sirius gagged and kicked at James again, "Who's going to heal me after dueling?" he added, sneering at Sirius, who stuck his tongue back out at him.

"Aren't you two technically able to heal yourselves?" she asked, her tone exasperated as Sirius began to pout at her and joined in with James' whinging. Their expressions comically darkened.

"It's too bloody hard," Sirius grumbled, glaring as Lily laughed.

"Here's what," James said, clapping his hands together. Lily exchanged an amused look with Sirius, "we'll come see you in Mungos, you can heal us then!"

"You can do it during visiting hours, we'll pop in to see Moony after work," Sirius added, and Lily rolled her eyes as James and Sirius grinned at each other.

"Lazy buggers," she tutted, and they grinned, "Fine, I'll pop in on Remus during evening visiting hours for a check. If you're in there I _may_ heal you, if I'm feeling nice," she added, and James winked at her. She shook her head fondly as she picked up her bag, "Behave while I'm gone," she said, looking pointedly at Sirius, who stuck his tongue out at her, "Leave Peter alone, let him sleep," she added, and Sirius scoffed.

" _I_ didn't sleep all night either," he drawled.

"Yes but you were the cause of your sleepless night," she countered, and Sirius scoffed, "Get dressed, go to work, apparate out of your bedroom if you must," she added airily, and Sirius saluted her, "Good boy."

"You know, we really should talk about security wards around the flat at some point," James mused, and Sirius turned to him with an irritated expression as Lily hummed in agreement.

"What?"

"I mean, anyone could just apparate in or out," James mused, and Sirius cocked his head to the side thoughtfully, "They could take something, I mean, Merlin forbid they take the Horcrux."

"They can't, Peter's been making sure to take it with him whenever he leaves," Lily said, and the two turned to her, their faces questioning. Lily rolled her eyes, "He just told me, he takes it because he reckons it'd be safer in his pocket than it would be in an unsecured empty flat," she said.

"That's smart," James said. Lily noted that Sirius, however reluctant, seemed to be in agreement.

"We'll set up the wards tonight," Sirius said, and Lily smiled.

"All right, I'll be sure to apparate outside the front door from now on," she said. Sirius waved as she walked out of the bedroom door. James sprung onto his feet to walk her out.

"Will you be all right? It's a monster of a shift," James said, and Lily smiled at him over her shoulder as they quietly made their way through the living room, where Peter was snoring.

"I'll be fine. Alma's on for the day today and she'll be back in the morning to relieve me," she said, and James smiled and nodded, leaning down to kiss her goodbye, "See you later love."

"You're making me nauseas," Sirius grumbled, and the two jumped apart to see him standing right beside James.

"I thought you were in there," James hissed, nodding towards the bedroom. Sirius smirked, and winked at Lily, who rolled her eyes.

"Bye Sirius," she said, and he grinned at her as she, with one last smile to James, turned on the spot and vanished.

"She made it all the way to the dining room, she could have at least walked out the door," Sirius mused. James rolled his eyes and shoved at his snickering best mate as he turned back towards the bedrooms to get changed.

* * *

"This is becoming unacceptable," James moaned, as he walked into another invisible wall. Sirius snickered, helping James pull away from it before Moody could notice. The man had already detained three people for 'dummy duty' after he'd watched them walk into a wall more than once. James was now on his fourth, and Sirius had walked into two, but the other had pulled them away from it before Moody could have noticed, "What is this even teaching us?"

"How not to get caught," Sirius murmured, waving at Moody, who simply turned to look elsewhere.

"We learned that at Hogwarts," James muttered back, and Sirius smirked as the two of them carefully ambled forwards, "He could at least let us hold an arm out in front of us so we wouldn't keep whacking our foreheads into the walls," James added, and Sirius guffawed.

"Because that really paints a picture of confidence," he said, mimicking someone walking around fearfully with an arm stretched out in front of them. James rolled his eyes as Sirius chuckled, "It's all about awareness Prongs."

"What he should have taught us," James said, after shooting Sirius a mocking look, "is how to detect them. I mean, he's just put up magical walls, we should know how to use our wands to detect magic and avoid them," he said, sneering after Moody's retreating back, as the man walked over to terrorize some other Auror Trainee who'd walked into a wall and was now crumpled on the floor with a nosebleed.

"That looks painful," Sirius grimaced, watching for a moment as the boy attempted to heal his own nose, but failed, resulting in the blood gushing out faster. Moody simply walked away, trusting that he'd figure out how to right it himself, "He's just going to leave him?"

"Evidently," James said, shaking his head as he turned to face the way forwards. They were in third place; one pair had already finished the maze and was standing triumphantly on the other side of the room. Another pair was a few feet ahead of them, standing a few yards to the left. Sirius turned away from the bleeding boy when his partner showed up and pulled out her wand to fix his nose.

"Right," Sirius said, squinting forwards, "I say we continue really slowly. They give off a faint warmth if you concentrate rally hard," he said. James turned to him, baffled.

"They do not!"

"They do!"

"No they don't, I wouldn't have walked into as many as I have and not noticed that," James said, and Sirius smirked mockingly at him. James flipped him off.

"Maybe it's the Padfoot in me," Sirius mused after a few moments, before starting forwards. James hurried to keep up with him.

"We're going to look like idiots if we just stride right into one," James grumbled, and Sirius smirked. He stopped short and frowned at the space in front of him.

"We've had a few feet without any walls, reckon we're going to hit one soon?" he asked, turning to look behind him. James snorted.

"Are you trying to predict Moody?"

"Touché," Sirius said after a moment, and James chuckled, "I mean, the only way to know if one is there is to walk into it, if you ask me," he said, and James sighed.

"That's what I'm saying. There's got to be a spell or something."

"I'm sure there is," Sirius said, a sneer in his voice, "Moody's going to teach it to us _after_ , to prove a point about how useful it is," he said, and James snorted in agreement.

"Potter! Black!" Moody's voice called like a sharp whip, and the two turned, scared, towards the sound of his voice, "This isn't a tea party!"

"Is he sure?" Sirius murmured to James under his breath. James bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from smirking.

"Get a move on! If the enemy was trying to catch up to you you'd be dead by now!"

"Then why bother trying," James snorted. Sirius sniggered as the two of them renewed walking towards their goal slowly.

"Stop!" Sirius said, throwing his arm out, so James walked right into it. James turned to him with a nasty look, "I reckon it's there," he said, nodding slightly to James' left. James turned to squint at the spot, "What are you doing?" Sirius snorted, and James shrugged.

"I think the last time I walked into one I saw that it was a mite blurry," he said, and Sirius smirked.

"Maybe that was you, from all the head banging."

"Maybe you should shut up," James advised, taking a step closer and squinting. Sirius sniggered.

"You look ridiculous."

"I was right!" James said excitedly, gesturing for Sirius to come over. He did, his expression laced with skepticism. He leaned forwards slightly, mimicking James, and chuckled.

"Merlins pants, it is faintly blurry!" he said excitedly, and James nodded. Sirius turned away from the wall and squinted at the rest of the room. James noticed Moody look over at them as if they were insane, but continued to squint nonetheless, "I reckon we go this way," he said, gesturing to the right. Sirius nodded, his eyes still squinting, and the two hesitantly made their way in that direction.

"Watch it!" Sirius hissed, grabbing James' sleeve and pulling him back as he noticed the loose shoelace of James' shoe bend upwards seemingly of its own accord, "It's literally right next to you," he said, and James sent him a grateful smile.

"Cheers mate."

"You're rubbish at this," Sirius snorted, not letting go of James' sleeve as they continued to march onwards, "Thank Merlin, I think we're done," he said, letting go of James and stretching his arms forwards. They were now almost level with the team who'd finished.

"Definitely done," James said, picking up his wand and shooting sparks forwards. When they met no barrier, Sirius grinned, throwing his arm around James as the two strutted forwards and sat themselves down on two seats outside the maze, "Thank fuck, I think I was about to go crazy in there," James said, shooting a dirty look at the invisible maze.

"Yeah, but now we can laugh at them," Sirius snickered, nodding at the maze, where a few other pairings were still attempting to make their way through. As he watched, one pair strode right into seemingly nothing, the two of them collapsing in a heap on the floor. Moody laughed, "Now I get why he does this," Sirius sniggered, watching as another crouched slowly, their faces pre-set in winces in anticipation of a blow.

James shook his head fondly and crossed his ankle over his knee, biting at the inside of his cheek as he continued to watch the others. Sirius turned to look at him, and frowned, "What's the matter with you?"

"Hm?" James said, turning his head to look at Sirius, "Oh, nothing," he said, turning back to the maze. Sirius rolled his eyes.

"You're still pissed."

"A little," James admitted after a moment, shrugging one of his shoulders. Sirius turned to look at him and cocked a brow.

"Well? Out with it," he said, and James sighed.

"I don't see the point mate, you don't want to hear it."

"True," Sirius said, flicking his dark locks out of his eyes, "But you can still say it. Get it of your chest or whatever."

"You'll kick off."

"Probably," Sirius shrugged, and James rolled his eyes, fighting of a smile as Sirius shot him a smirk.

"He talked to me this morning," James said after a moment, and Sirius shrugged.

"That's not a huge betrayal mate, but I see why you'd think I-"

"Oh shut up," James scoffed, rolling his eyes as Sirius snickered at his own wit, "He's scared of becoming that person too, you know," James said after a moment. Sirius cocked a skeptical brow.

"This is supposed to comfort me, how?"

"It's not," James sighed, rubbing at his forehead, "I don't know, it doesn't really do much I guess. But he thinks we all hate him," he said. Sirius didn't twitch, and James sighed, "Look, I know you're not going to hear it, but I know you don't hate him. You're not impressed with him nor do you particularly like him much anymore, but I know you'd still try and keep him out of harms way if faced with the chance," James said, and Sirius scoffed.

"That's human decency."

"That's what you think," James shrugged. Sirius chewed at the inside of his cheek for a moment, before rolling his eyes.

"Fine, whatever, he's scared. We're all scared. That's not my problem," he shrugged. James sighed, "I won't punch him again," Sirius added after a moment, and James smiled slightly.

"That's all I ask."

* * *

"There you are!"

Lily turned, her face breaking out into a grin, as she saw Alma approach her, her ponytail swinging from side to side as she walked, "I haven't seen you in ages," Lily said, and Alma shook her head vigorously as she slammed her tray down across from Lily's.

"You've gotten fat, I don't even recognize you anymore," Alma said airily, and Lily grinned, shaking her head fondly as Alma yawned loudly, stretching her arms up into the air, "Merlin's _beard_ I'd kill for a good nap," she said, closing her eyes and sending a dreamy smile Lily's way. Lily snorted.

"It's noon," she said bluntly. Alma looked at her blankly.

"You can say that, you got a good nights sleep, I presume. Only the well rested mock us energy deficient," she sniffed. Lily rolled her eyes.

"I forgot how irritating you were," she grumbled. Alma beamed.

"I missed you too Lily," she sung, stabbing at her pasta as Lily sighed fondly, taking another bite of her sandwich, "How was your sisters shindig?"

"What are you on?" Lily laughed, eyes twinkling with humour, as she looked at Alma, who giggled as she continued to twirl her pasta, "Shindig? Should I be testing you for the Imperius Curse?"

"I mean, why would you ask?" Alma snorted, "If I was Imperiused I'd be Imperiused not to tell you. Really Lily, you've got to start paying more attention to these curses, we can't leave the men to figure things out, you know they'll just botch it all up, the useless sods."

"Oh good, the patriarchy. You're definitely not Imperiused then," Lily giggled, as Alma stuck her tongue out at her, "Is this delirium?"

"That's sexist Lily, a woman could be Imperius-ing me, I'm sure Death Eaters face a patriarchal reality as well," she tutted. Lily laughed, "Us vaginas have to stick together you know."

"You'd stick with the woman Imperius-ing you because of her vagina?" Lily asked, her green eyes crinkled with amusement. Alma sent her a scathing look as Lily smirked.

"You've bloody changed," she said, pointing her fork at Lily, who simply laughed it off, "And it's not delirium thank you very much, unless you're referring to delirium as a result of intense joy," she added.

"I sense you want me to ask you about this intense joy."

"Oh all right, if you're going to keep asking I'll fill you in," Alma said, winking as Lily rolled her eyes, "Well, I mean, speaking of filling in-"

"Oh Merlin no, stop," Lily groaned, placing her sandwich down on her plate as Alma sniggered like the filthy creep she was, "I'm trying to _eat_."

"Owen ate yesterday," she said airily. Lily glared at her. Alma smirked, "You asked," she shrugged, taking another bite of her pasta.

"I did _not_ ," Lily scoffed, and Alma winked.

"I reckon you need to feed James, you're too tetchy," she tutted. Lily flushed, averting her gaze as the brunette sniggered again, "I think I'm in love," she added. Lily raised her brows.

"In love? With Owen?"

"Parts of him," Alma said, winking. Lily shook her head, trying and failing miserably at fighting off a smirk, "Enough of my sex life, you filthy pervert," she continued, turning back to her pasta, "and back to my original question. Shindig. Go," she met Lily's gaze with an expectant one of her own, eyebrows perched high on her forehead.

"There's nothing to report," Lily shrugged, taking a bite of her sandwich, "We went, we stood around, took a picture, and left."

"We being you and James," Alma said.

"Naturally," Lily said, and Alma nodded.

"So you _did_ get some quality time with him," she said, and Lily rolled her eyes as Alma smirked.

"Not in the way you're implying," she sneered, and Alma gasped.

"He's so fit! What's the matter with you?"

"I'm not an animal, Alma," she snorted, her face turning pink at the continued sex talk. Alma rolled her eyes.

"Clearly. No wonder you're tetchy."

"Leave me and my tetchiness alone," Lily laughed, and Alma shrugged.

"If you insist. Though if you ask me-"

"I didn't," Lily cut in. Alma ignored her.

"-your losing your tetchiness will only benefit humanity, so get on it," she said. Her eyes twinkled, "I mean, him."

"You have a problem," Lily snorted, wiping her hands with her napkin as Alma sniggered, "Does Owen know?"

"You bet," she replied with a wink, and Lily shook her head fondly as the girl giggled, "Mum's been bothering me to meet him," she said, and Lily grinned.

"How's that going?"

"Over her dead body," Alma said simply, and Lily laughed.

"I thought you'd decided to turn over a new leaf and tell your Mum about your life."

"Yes," Alma said, nodding once, " _Tell_ her about it. Not _involve_ her in it."

"I don't know if that's your line to draw," Lily teased as Alma sent her a sour look, "Mums tend to involve themselves."

"Let's not talk about this anymore, it's depressing me," Alma said, waving her fork. Lily laughed, "Let's talk about something else."

"Like the fact that you're in love?" Lily asked. Alma rolled her eyes.

"I am not _in love,_ " she snorted. Lily smirked.

"Aren't you?"

Alma glared at Lily for a few moments, before huffing irritably and getting to her feet.

"If I wanted this kind of abuse I'd have visited my Mum," she sniffed, and Lily laughed as the girl turned on her heel and walked away. Looking up at the clock, Lily saw she had another ten minutes of her lunch hour left. Deciding to make the best of it and spend some time with Remus, she stood up and, after depositing her tray, climbed down the stairs to Remus' floor.

The ward was serene compared to the Emergency Ward, where she'd been assigned for the day. Healer Cromwell was out sick today, so as such she was placed in a Ward where she could help in any way she could. The Emergency ward had been calmer today than most days because there hadn't been a Death Eater attack that day. Lily had spent the morning dealing with the usual Emergency Ward cases that she'd heard of to exist in the Muggle world as well; an appendix emergency, a child falling down the stairs, a Quidditch injury, an accidental cut from a knife. There was a certain degree of tranquility, she found, in the mundane injuries, in being able to pretend, for a short while, that the world was not falling apart around her.

Remus' ward, specializing in animal bites, was usually a stress-free environment; there was only really something to do when someone came in with a dangerous bite, or during the Full Moon. Today was the last day before all the werewolves would be discharged, and she could sense the frustration radiating off the men and women who'd been stuck in these beds for two days. As she walked past one of the wards, she saw a witch frantically scribbling on a piece of parchment with her quill, a large pile of files stacked neatly on the bed next to her. Lily had heard about her from Remus- she was a Ministry Lobbyer, frantically working to pass legislation condemning the Death Eaters' activities on the basis of the Magical community's enshrined principles of equality. Mungo's had afforded her a private ward at a discounted price so she'd be able to complete her task without disruption.

On approaching Remus' ward, Lily heard arguing, and hurried along, only to be greeted by the sight of Remus and Bernard engaged in a heated debate.

"What's the matter?" she asked, and Remus groaned, rolling his eyes as he dropped his head back against the wall. Bernard smirked, and winked at Lily.

"All I was saying was there was some merit to the _Prophet_ 's most recent article," he said, holding the paper up so Lily could see the front page. Lily laughed.

"Remus, I think he has a point. I, for one, am mighty curious about the lead singer of Wandz reminiscing on his Hogwarts days at Hogsmeade," she said. Remus rolled his head to sneer at her, "It's humbling, don't you think? Knowing he sat where we sat?"

"Why are you here?" he scoffed, and Lily beamed, pushing herself off the doorframe so she could perch next to him on the bed. Remus shuffled over to make room for her.

"Thought I'd come see how my favourite patient was," she said, grinning at Remus, who rolled his eyes again.

"Bored out of my fucking skull, is how I am," he said, and Lily laughed, "My body is fine, see, look at my foot," he said, lifting his leg so the blanket flipped off his foot to reveal, as he said, a perfectly healed foot, albeit with some scarring, "I can't see Bernard through it any more, so that's clearly an improvement," he said. Bernard snickered, "They won't give me any fucking chocolate in here, which, by the way, I told Amelia, the Ministry Lobbyer, about when I wheeled in there earlier, and she told me to sue the hospital for distress," he added, and Lily rolled her eyes, her lips twitching with laughter as Bernard continued to snicker, "So you should warn your employers of the lawsuit I'm about to bring down on their heads-"

"Ask him why he wheeled over to Amelia," Bernard interrupted. Remus scowled at him.

"Why'd you wheel over to Amelia?" Lily giggled. Remus shoved her off the bed.

"Go back to work, you're causing me more distress," he said, and Lily laughed.

"How's your day going?" Bernard asked, and Lily smiled at him. Remus rolled his eyes.

"All right, I suppose. Just a few household accidents," she said, and Remus snorted.

"I'd give them my bed- oh! Wait, no, can't," he said, glaring at Lily, who rolled her eyes at Bernard. He snickered again.

"I actually had a reason to come in and bother you," she said, and Remus cocked his head expectantly, "it only struck me this morning, but it's November tomorrow."

"Congratulations," Remus said after a few seconds of her not speaking. Lily rolled her eyes, "Thank you for telling me."

"Don't be a prat," she scolded, clearing her throat, "I was thinking about Sirius-"

"Does James know?"

"Remus!" she hissed, and he smirked as she crossed her arms irritably, "I wanted to know what you think we should do about his birthday," she said. Remus gaped.

"His birthday isn't for ages!"

"It's on the 3rd," she countered, ignoring Remus' muttered 'I knew that', "Literally in three days. Since you're in here _bored out of your skull_ ," she said, and Remus groaned, dropping his head back against the wall again as Bernard's snickers renewed, "I thought it'd be helpful if you could come up with a few ideas?"

"What does he even want to do?" he grumbled, crossing his arms and bending his knees so his feet were resting against the mattress, "How the fuck am I supposed to know what the do for his bloody birthday?"

"Ask Amelia," Lily quipped, and Remus shot her a scathing look as Bernard burst out laughing, "I need to get back to work," she said, looking down at her wristwatch. Remus waved her off, and she smiled at him, reaching over to ruffle his hair. Remus attempted to smack her hand away, "I think he needs a pick me up, it's been a rotten couple days for him," she said, pinning him with a pointed look. Remus' expression twisted with curiosity, but he was clever enough to know not to bring it up in front of Bernard.

Remus let out a loud groan and huffed a couple times, " _Fine_ , I'll plan the gits birthday party," he grumbled.

* * *

It wasn't until late afternoon that some excitement came Lily's way, in the form Hestia Jones.

"What happened?" Lily gasped, hurrying over to where one of the other Healers was levitating her towards a cot. Hestia turned to throw her a blinding smile over her shoulder.

"You have no idea how lovely it is to see a friendly face," she said, landing with an exaggerated 'oomph' as the Healer gently rested her on the bed. Lily scuttled forwards, her eyes scanning her friends' body for injuries. She relaxed almost instantly, noting that there wasn't a speck of blood on her immaculately dressed friend. She was, however, covered in scrapes, and if her eyes weren't deceiving her, there were bits of sticks and leaves scattered throughout Hestia's hair.

"What's wrong?" Lily asked, as the Healer whipped out his wand to begin examining Hestia. Hestia held up her finger, as if to ask Lily to wait a moment, before turning to the Healer.

"Would it be all right with you if my friend took care of me?" she asked flirtatiously, with a blinding smile. The healer blinked. Lily bit back a smile. She felt bad for the poor bloke, what, with Hestia's beachy waves of dark hair, low cut ensemble, long legs, perfectly symmetrical toothy smile, and flirtatious demeanor combined, the poor sod really didn't stand a chance.

"Er, yeah," he said after a moment, eyes flickering to Lily for a moment, before back to Hestia, "I'll er, be around if you need anything," he added. Hestia shot him another winning smile, and wiggled her fingers as he scuttled off, a dazed expression on his face, as if he'd been struck with a Confoundus charm.

"Works like a charm every time," Hestia said with a wink, and Lily chuckled, shaking her head fondly as she pulled her wand out of her pocket, "There's no better way to get things done."

"I'm sure Sirius would be thrilled," Lily drawled. Hestia rolled her big brown eyes, "It's not like he's the jealous type," she added. Hestia scoffed.

"That would make him the worlds biggest hypocrite," she shot back, and Lily laughed as she ran her wand over Hestia's leg, where the damage seemed to be focused, "He's always winking and pouting for attention."

Lily grinned and shook her head fondly, "Sounds familiar."

"Rude," Hestia scoffed. She met Lily's eyes, and her lips twitched, "But fair. He'll come back for my address so he can owl me, I'm sure," she added, looking over at where he was standing, actively attempting not to look in her direction and making himself incredibly obvious as a result. Hestia giggled, "Maybe I'll save it for Alma," she mused, looking down at Lily's hands with a twinkle in her eyes, " _You're_ clearly taken. Tilt your hand will you, that diamond is blinding me," she giggled again, shielding her face dramatically. Lily rolled her eyes and twisted the ring so all Hestia would be able to see was the band. Hestia laughed, "Where is that Bancroft anyway? Didn't you say she had a boyfriend? I haven't seen her in eons."

"I'm sure," Lily teased, and Hestia stuck her tongue out at her, "Think you've picked that up from Sirius," she said. Hestia smirked.

"Picked up a lot from that boy, I have," she said, and Lily scowled as the brunette laughed, "Such a talent. The things that boy can do with his fingers, I tell you-"

"Please stop talking," Lily groaned, as Hestia's expression turned wistful and dreamy.

"I think I'll stop by tonight," she said, tapping at her chin, "Surprise him with my nudity. What do you think?"

"Sounds great," Lily replied sardonically. Hestia laughed again.

"Oh and it will be," she said, before clapping her hands, "How is my leg?"

"It's still attached," Lily quipped. Hestia tutted.

"Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit, you know."

"I've heard," Lily retorted. Hestia grinned, "Can you tell me what happened now? As far as I can tell you've managed to sprain this ankle and you seem to have fractured a rib. Not to mention all the scrapes, what were you doing?"

Hestia's expression turned sheepish, "That explains why I can't breathe properly. Can you believe it hurts to laugh? What kind of injustice is this?"

"Why didn't you start with that?" Lily said gently, as she lifted her wand to cast a healing spell at Hestia's ribcage. Almost instantly she noticed the girl sit up straighter, "Be careful, it'll be a little weak for a few hours, so don't be an idiot," she said. Hestia pouted at her.

"You can't abuse me like this, I'm injured."

"Which bodes the question, what did you do to yourself?" Lily asked again, as she cast a Healing spell on Hestia's ankle. Hestia let out a satisfied sigh and rotated her right ankle.

"That feels so much better," she said, sending a dreamy smile Lily's way, "You're magic."

"Yes, I know," Lily replied, twirling her wand for good measure. Hestia snorted in amusement.

"I take back my jab at your wit," she said. Lily rolled her eyes.

"Are you done stalling now?" she asked. Hestia gasped, placing her hand on her heart. Lily bit back a laugh.

"Stalling? _Moi_? How dare you accuse me of such a thing," she sniffed, crossing her arms. She winced as the action caused a cut in her left harm to open. Lily rolled her eyes and walked around the bed so she could heal the cut from a better angle. Hestia held her arm out like a child and pouted up at Lily, "Okay I'm stalling."

"Are you going to make me ask why?" Lily sighed, smiling slightly as Hestia watched her skin reseal itself with fascination.

"Because Sirius won't be happy about what I have to say," she said after a moment. Lily lifted her eyes to meet Hestia's brown ones, "And I don't really care about his childishness because this was all," she said, gesturing to her scrapes, "for the greater good."

Lily frowned for a moment before her eyes widened slightly, "you were writing your article."

"Well, I wasn't writing it," Hestia scoffed, "it's hardly that dangerous a task. I wasn't dueling a quill."

"It would explain all the leaves in your hair," Lily quipped. Hestia shot her an annoyed look and began sifting through the locks on her chest for the twigs, "If you weren't dueling a quill then how'd you get in this state?" Lily asked.

One look at the determined glint in Hestia's eyes and she found herself afraid to hear the answer.

"Don't kick off," she said. Lily held back a groan, "I was conducting some field research," she said. Lily rolled her eyes as she healed another scrape, "Which isn't a problem, since my boss is so thrilled I took up the article he's let me do whatever I please to get it done. Did Sirius tell you he gave me a raise as well?" she said excitedly, "I even used him to redecorate my flat."

"Your boss?"

"Sirius, you imbecile," Hestia scoffed. Lily giggled childishly as Hestia rolled her eyes, "Honestly, my _boss_. Anyway, as I was saying," she cleared her throat, "I was doing field research."

"Which entails what exactly?" Lily asked, after it was clear Hestia wouldn't explain herself any further. Hestia sent her a wary look.

"Now don't get mad," she said. Lily cocked a brow at her, "I was…trailing someone."

"Someone being who exactly?" Lily asked quietly. Hestia's cheeks pinked.

"Well, okay, it was the only way for me to even attempt to find out where You-Know-Who is staking out," she said. Lily gaped, "I didn't find it, shut your gob please I can see your tonsils," she said. Lily closed her mouth, cast her eyes down to Hestia's left leg, which was similarly covered in scrapes and scratches, and began to heal the skin, "So I thought 'who do I know that is a Death Eater?' Well, lo and behold, an article falls on my desk this morning for me to edit on a large contribution made by the Lestrange family to the Ministry of Magic," she said. Lily closed her eyes; Hestia was right, Sirius wouldn't take this well, "Which, by the way, if you ask me, clearly means that the stupid Ministry has been infiltrated and the Death Eaters can buy their silence. Anyway, I decided it would be just too easy for me to follow one of the Lestranges, since they're so obviously involved with You-Know-Who. So, you know," she cleared her throat. For the first time, Lily thought she looked a little guilty, "I waited for the son, you know, Rodolphus? He's apparently working in the Ministry somewhere. I waited outside the Ministry for him to appear, and started to follow him. I'd been tracking him for over an hour, when he took a turn down this really abandoned hilly road," she said, holding up her leg, "See my shoes? It was a proper dirt road," she added. Lily noted that her shoes were, indeed, coated with dirt, "And I wasn't wearing the right shoes for such terrain. I took a stumble, and luckily I was far enough away from him that he didn't turn and notice, but I ended up rolling down the hill," she said, shrugging, "At the bottom I turned on the spot and went back to the office, you know, in case he came to see what all the commotion was, since all these people had run over to see if I was alive. At work my boss took one look at the state of me and sent me here," she finished.

"So your injuries are as a result of rolling down the hill," Lily said slowly. She didn't want to discuss the rest of the story, with Hestia's incredible risk, and decided the best thing to do was focus on the Healing. Hestia nodded once, her lips thin.

"Yes. There were trees and brambles and everything. Reckon the rib happened because at some point I remember bumping into something hard. Maybe a rock or something," she said with a shrug. Her eyes were watching Lily's face shrewdly, and Lily focused on keeping her expression blank.

"Well you're pretty much healed up," Lily said, nodding down at Hestia's legs. The girl looked down, her eyes widening slightly as she noted her now flawless skin.

"Aren't you going to say anything?" Hestia asked. Lily sighed, and shook her head.

"Not my place," she said. Hestia's expression fell.

"Don't you think I'm doing the right thing, Lily?" she asked. Lily met her gaze, which was so full of hope, pleading with Lily to agree with her, and looked away.

"I think it's the right thing to do. I just don't know how I feel about you being the one doing it," she said diplomatically. Hestia bought Lily's lie, and beamed up at her.

"Don't worry about me Lily, I'll be fine," she said, hopping off the bed and somehow landing perfectly on her tall heels.

"Pick a better ensemble for stalking if there is a next time," Lily said. Hestia snorted.

"Then they'll think I _am_ stalking. Nobody would suspect anything of a woman dressed like this," she said, gesturing to her tight orange dress and her high white heels. Lily chuckled; she had to give her that, "and I assure you my dear, now that I know where that dirt road is, I'll probably see you again for some more cuts," she said. Lily sighed under her breath as Hestia turned to wave happily at the Junior Healer. He turned pink and turned away. Lily felt a giggle bubble out of her, "See, mangled or not, it's too easy," she sighed. She turned to look down at Lily, her expression calculating, "Will you tell Sirius?"

"If he asks," Lily said after a moment. Hestia's lips pursed.

"And James?"

"I tell James everything," Lily said, meeting Hestia's eyes surely. Hestia grimaced, but nodded nonetheless.

"Will he tell Sirius?"

"That's not up to me," Lily said. Hestia sighed.

"In that case, I'll be sure to show up as a nude surprise. The boy has an entirely one-track mind, he'll forget his whining when he sees these," she said, gesturing to her chest. Lily attempted to bite back a smile. Hestia grinned, "I'll see you around Lily."

"Hopefully fully clothed," Lily quipped. Hestia blew her a kiss and then turned away, strutting down the middle of the ward towards reception.

* * *

James groaned as he walked back into the Auror office after their lunch break to see the room had been cleared. Sirius followed in behind him and uttered a muted swear.

"Wands out, it looks like," Sirius sighed, pulling his own out of his pocket. James grimaced and followed suit, as he made his way towards the middle of the room. As each Auror Trainee entered the room, they groaned loudly. The dummies, who had been sitting in the room the entire lunch break, as was the usual punishment, seemed to be readying themselves for what would clearly be a gruesome afternoon for them.

The door slammed shut, and the collective group of trainees looked over at the door to see a viciously grinning Moody. He pulled out his wand.

"Line up!" he barked. The trainees scattered to comply, and James and Sirius found themselves tenth and eleventh in the line of twenty. Moody twirled his wand and as James watched, his stance became steadier. James swallowed.

"We're dueling Moody, one by one," he whispered, turning his head slightly to the side.

Sirius swore again.

* * *

"How are you holding up?" Alma asked, smiling as she sat herself down next to Lily on an empty cot in the Emergency Ward. Lucky for Lily, it had been a relatively quiet day.

"Managing," Lily sighed, offering Alma a crisp. Alma reached in and popped a crisp in her mouth, "I don't think I'm interested in qualifying into the Emergency Ward," she said, nodding at the empty room. Alma snorted.

"Because it's the worst," she said, crossing her legs, as she wiggled to get more comfortable, "I swear when these attacks are over they'll have nothing to do," she said. Lily grimaced, "Qualify into something worthwhile."

Lily rolled her head against the wall to look at Alma, who was sneakily attempting to steal another crisp. With a smirk, Lily held up the bag, and Alma winked, reaching in and grabbing one, "You sound like you have it all figured out," Lily teased. Alma grinned.

"I've been doing some charts and things for the Magical Bugs ward," she said. Lily noticed her eyes twinkle, "It seems tough, but I like the idea of helping people struggling from disease. I mean, obviously, we're not allowed to enter the ward unless we've had all the vaccines, so I won't get any experience before qualifying, but reading the charts I think it's something I'll like. It's not as painful as watching people who've been harmed by other people," she added, and Lily sighed.

"I have no idea what I want to qualify into," she said, and Alma shrugged.

"You'll get there."

"Thanks," Lily chuckled. The two sat in comfortable silence for a few moments, Alma munching on crisps and Lily resting her head against het wall, "What does Owen want to qualify into?" she asked after a few moments. Alma shrugged.

"He's not sure yet," she replied, "I don't think he's liking Artifact Accidents all that much, although if you ask me," she said, rolling her eyes, "He's always excitable after dealing with one of those cases."

"Sounds like it's going well," Lily said, and Alma nodded.

"Yes, I think he's really enjoying the Traineeship," she said. Lily rolled her eyes.

"I meant your relationship," she said, and Alma flushed.

"Yeah, it's going all right," she said, clearing her throat as her flush deepened. Lily giggled. Alma turned to glare at her, "Shut up Evans."

"Oh Alma," Lily giggled, dropping her head on her friends shoulder. Alma glared up at the ceiling, shaking her head irritably, "I knew one of them would get you."

Alma snorted, fighting off a smile as she looked down into her lap, "He really did. I didn't even see it coming," she sighed, shaking her head as she laughed once.

"Is the sabotage as painful as you thought it'd be?" Lily asked, as he lifted her head off Alma's shoulder to look at her expression. Alma turned to her, a gleeful grin on her face.

"It's every bit as painful," she said, a small dimple appearing in her chin as she grinned wider than Lily had ever seen, "I'm completely incapacitated."

"Incapacitated by what?"

Alma looked up quickly, her heart hammering, to see Owen enter the ward, that gorgeous grin of his plastered across his face as his beautiful eyes bored into her. Lily smiled at him in greeting, enjoying the wide-eyed euphoria she could see on Alma's face. The girl was clearly head over heels.

"I think you'll find eavesdropping is a very dangerous task," Alma said, in small voice Lily had never heard her use before. Lily grinned down into her lap as Owen winked at Alma, before hopping up onto the gurney on the other side of her. Lily fought back the urge to cheer as Owen entwined his fingers with Alma's, and Alma beamed happily into her lap.

"I should probably go, I think evening visiting hours have started and James was going to pop in," Lily said, pushing herself off the cot, knowing by the looks on their faces that she wouldn't be missed for a second, "You can have these," she added, chucking the half empty bag of crisps at Alma.

"See you tomorrow Lily," Owen said, nodding his goodbye. Lily noted Alma squeezing his fingers.

"Don't let the night shift break you," Alma added. She beamed happily. Lily grinned back at her and threw her a parting wink, before she turned to leave the ward. As she left, she heard the harmony of Alma's girlish giggling and Owen's baritone chuckle, and found herself beaming happily as she made her way towards the stairs.

When she entered Remus' ward, it was to find Sirius and James collapsed on the small settee next to Remus' bed. Bernard was eyeing them shrewdly, and for once didn't look up to wink or make a cheeky comment at her. Remus' eyes were travelling over the boys' beat up bodies warily, and his head turned sharply when Lily entered the ward. She let out a gasp at the state of her fiancé and Sirius.

"What happened?" she squeaked, whipping out her wand and rushing over to James, who managed to lift his head and grimace at her.

"Dueling practice," he said, wincing slightly as he attempted to sit up. He was dripping with sweat, and covered in cuts and bruises, as was Sirius, who looked like he was on the verge of unconsciousness, "We were up against Moody."

Remus hissed sympathetically as Sirius groaned, poking at one of the bruises on his exposed forearm, "Not to mention neither of us has bloody slept all night, so we're fucking shattered," he added. Lily shook her head slightly as she healed James' wounds, and placed her hand on his cheek.

"Go home and have a nap, the both of you," she instructed. James nodded up at her, pouting, and Lily smiled gently, leaning down to kiss him chastely before moving on to heal Sirius, who was predictably muttering about favoritism, as he was in the habit of doing every time she healed James before him, "Don't be such an arse," she said, tapping Sirius playfully on the head, before moving onto his wounds. Sirius smirked up at her lazily.

"You say that like it's possible Evans."

"I swear, you two need more healing than most of the patients I've seen today," she tutted, letting out a puff of relief as she took a step back from the now perfectly healed, but still dead on their feet, boys lying on the settee. James seemed to be actively fighting to keep his eyelids open, while Sirius had succumbed and simply lay with his eyes closed, "How could dueling practice have caused this?"

"A question we ask every time we run to you for help," Sirius grumbled, yawning hugely before he continued, "I think Moody's trying to kill us."

"He's doing a decent job then," Remus chortled, smirking as both boys peeled their eyes open to glare at him, "Really coming close to his goal, he is."

"Ha bloody ha," James grumbled, focusing his bloodshot eyes on Lily, "Does your second shift start now?"

"About an hour after visiting hours end," she confirmed, leaning against the wall by the head of Remus' bed. Remus offered her a piece of chocolate, which she took with a grateful smile, "Then I'm not off until about nine in the morning tomorrow, so I'll come back with Remus," she said. Remus beamed happily.

"Fucking finally," he said, shaking his head irritably, "I'm so sick of these walls."

"The walls at home are hardly more exciting," James said, snickering to himself as Sirius rolled his eyes and shoved him, "They may even be the same colour."

"The more tired you get the more shite your humour is," he sneered, shooting a scathing look at James, who was still chuckling at his own wit. Lily bit back a smile as she watched him continue to go to pieces over his non-joke, "Come back mate, we're sick of each other," he added, turning to Remus, who seemed to be warring between amusement and disgust at James' joke.

"Clearly," Remus said sardonically, rolling his eyes as James descended into another fit of manly giggles, "Get him out of here. Put him to bed, or this will never end," he added, gesturing to where James was practically slapping his knee in his burst of hilarity.

"So you'll be home by about ten tomorrow?" Sirius asked, and Remus turned to look at Lily, who shrugged.

"At the latest, I assume. You two'll already be at work though so you'll see him in the evening," she added. Sirius grimaced, before pushing himself up to his feet and kicking at James' shoes.

"Get up, let's go," he said, rolling his eyes as James made a show of trying to catch his breath, "See you tomorrow then," he said, saluting Remus, who smirked at his irritation, "It'll be nice to have you back."

"When did he get so formal?" Remus asked Lily, who bit back a laugh as Sirius shot Remus a scathing look.

"Thanks Lil," he said, and Lily smiled before jerking her chin in James' direction.

"Try not to abuse him, yeah? I kind of like him," she said. Sirius rolled his eyes and grabbed James' sleeve, tugging at it until the messy-haired boy glared and pushed himself up onto his feet.

"Stop doing that," he near snapped, tugging his arm away. Sirius smirked, ruffling his best mates hair.

"So testy when he's sleepy," Sirius cooed, and James shoved him before waving at Remus, who smirked and waved back, watching on amused as the two dragged their feet out of the ward. When they were out of earshot, Remus turned to Lily.

"I've been thinking," he said, pulling a piece of parchment out from underneath his pillow, "We should do some sort of mad night out for Sirius," he said, handing Lily the parchment. She took it and scanned it with interest, "He needs something idiotic to do to lift his spirits," he said, rolling his eyes as Lily giggled.

"Who's invited?" she asked, handing the parchment back to Remus.

"The five of us, Hestia," he shrugged, and Lily grinned.

"Sounds great Remus," she said, eyes flickering back over to where Sirius and James' prone bodies had lain, "He really needs this."

"I was also thinking," he added, turning the parchment over to where he'd jotted down various bullet pointed suggestions, "Of having the night be a challenge," he said, eyes twinkling mischievously. Lily shook her head fondly.

"That sounds right up his alley," she said, and Remus smirked.

"I know. So I figured if we had dares and challenges and points, then the night will go off without a hitch. I've made a provisional list of dares here," he said, gesturing to the list. Lily scanned the suggestions and laughed, "which include the usual nonsense- pranking, humiliating, drinking challenges, thievery- so I imagine he'll have a good time, " he said, and Lily laughed.

"Do we get to team up?"

Remus sniggered, "I think we may need to, or else everyone'll wander off themselves and it'll be a bloody nightmare when morning comes."

"Should we assign teams?" Lily asked, and Remus smirked.

"I imagine you'll pair up with Prongs."

Lily rolled her eyes, "No thank you," she scoffed, and Remus guffawed, "He's a nightmare when it comes to challenges. I'll pair up with Hest," she said, and Remus snickered.

"Probably best, Sirius'll murder us all if she chucks him because of this," he added, lifting the parchment slightly. Lily giggled.

"He can pair up with James. They'll probably win, and it'll be incredibly entertaining for the rest of us," she shrugged. Remus chuckled in agreement and scribbled down the pairings at the bottom of the parchment- he was to be with Peter, "I'd pair up with you, of course, but I don't know how Hestia and Peter will go down," she added, with a slight wince. Remus cocked a brow at her.

"That bad?" he asked. Lily smiled, grateful the boy was so intuitive that he knew exactly what she meant without her needing to hit him over the head with her insinuations.

"Yes," she sighed, and Remus grimaced, returning to his writing, "I'll explain it in the morning," she said, and Remus smiled up at her.

"I'll get cracking on finalizing this," he said, nodding down at the parchment, "Perhaps we could grab some tea before heading back, so you can fill me in on everything," he said.

"Sounds good," she said with a grin. She looked down at her watch and sighed, pushing herself off the wall, "I'd better get all my paperwork from the day shift in order before the next one starts," she said, and Remus smiled, "Good night," she said, before turning to smile at Bernard, who was still in a state of unnatural silence, "Good night Bernard."

He waved at her, his piercing eyes tracking her exit from the ward as, with one last smile, she walked out. Remus snorted.

"In your dreams mate."

"I assure you they are," he said. Remus rolled his eyes and chucked his quill at Bernard, who snickered and threw it back at him, "Let's catch up at some point, when all your friends are at work, or when all this unemployment crap becomes too much," he said. Remus smiled.

"Definitely."

* * *

Remus gaped as Lily took another sip of her tea.

As promised, after Remus had been discharged half an hour previously, they'd gone up to the Fifth Floor tea room so Lily could fill Remus in on everything he'd missed.

"I can't believe I missed so much," Remus said after a few moments, shaking his head incredulously before taking another sip of his coffee, "I was only out three days. What's going on now?" he asked, and Lily shrugged.

"I don't know, I've been here," she said, gesturing around the ward. Remus let out a loud exhale once more, "I'm just glad you're coming back."

"Me too," Remus snorted, and Lily grinned, "I'm so fucking sick of this stupid place, I can't even tell you. I don't know how you bloody come here every day."

Lily rolled her eyes fondly, "Because I'm not holed up in a bed, that's how," she teased, and Remus guffawed, "Did you say goodbye to your girlfriend?" she asked, and Remus pinned her with a sardonic look as she hid a smirk.

"Did anyone make any progress on our project since I've been gone?" he asked, and Lily grimaced.

"I think everyone's been too caught up in their emotions, to be honest," she said, and Remus sighed, "Honestly though, I think it's about time we figure out a way to destroy the things," she added, "I've been meaning to look in the library here, for properties that could kill humans-"

"But that's probably not going to do us much good with metal," Remus finished her sentence, and Lily sighed, "I'm sure there must be a fairly obvious solution that we're missing, I think we're all far too focused on the whole basilisk and sword of Gryffindor nonsense, we need to accept that we're _not_ Harry and therefore will have different ways to-"

" _There_ you are!"

Remus' jaw snapped shut as Alma stormed in, her expression a mask of irritation, her left forearm heavily bandaged. Lily cocked a brow as Alma moodily threw herself onto the bench next to Remus, glaring down at her arm.

"What happened?" Lily asked, and Alma huffed.

"Don't even, I'm so bloody fucking pissed," she sniffed. Remus fought back a chuckle, eventually succumbing and hiding it behind a well-timed cough. Alma shot him an irritated look before turning back to Lily, who looked like she was trying to hold back a smile of her own.

"But what happened to your arm?" Lily asked, gesturing towards the bandage. Alma's expression darkened comically.

"This _arse_ walked into the Emergency Ward, screaming like a bloody banshee, if you please, I barely escaped with my life," she said, and Remus chuckled.

"Because of the screaming?"

"Banshee screaming can prove fatal, thank you very much," Alma sniffed disdainfully, and Remus smirked as she rolled her eyes at him and turned back to Lily, "So I, being such a benevolent soul-"

"Naturally," Lily smirked.

"-put aside all of my reservations about death and approached the blighter," she said, glaring dramatically down at her arm, "The stupid fool was bloody _carrying_ the plant that had attacked him, why he brought it into a hospital with other people it could harm is beyond me, by the way," she added, and Remus nodded in concurrence, clearly mocking Alma. Lily shot him an amused look, and he winked back at her, "And then the stupid bloody thing attacked _me_ before I could help _him_!" she spat, and Lily smiled sympathetically.

"Sorry," she said, and Alma scoffed.

"This career choice isn't rewarding at all," she stated. Lily laughed, "Oh, sure, it's all very funny, laugh at poor Alma who no longer has any bloody _skin_ on her arm," she said, waving the cast around. Lily winced as Remus took another sip of his coffee, clearly unbothered by the mention of gore.

"But what did the plant do?" Lily asked, and Alma scoffed dramatically.

"It spits bloody _acid_ ," she sneered. Remus' eyebrows rose, and he sat up attentively. Lily's eyes twinkled, " _Why_ in the name of Morgana's saggy left breast would _anyone_ even _purchase_ -"

"Acid!" Lily squeaked, turning to Remus, who nodded vigorously.

"Yes, that's what I said," Alma said irritably, looking between the two of them, who now looked very excited, "What's happening? Is this some sort of prank? Because, if so, I'm very unimpressed," she said.

The other two weren't listening.

" _Acid_! Brilliant!" Remus breathed, turning to beam at Alma, "Thanks!"

Alma turned to shoot Lily a bewildered look, " _Was_ this a prank?"

"No," Lily quipped back at her, without even turning away from Remus, "I never even considered it… _acid…_ I mean, surely it has the properties…we need to go! We have to look up-"

"I don't even know if it'll work or if there are any that are dangerous enough-"

"We need books," Lily said, pushing herself up to her feet frantically. Alma rose uncertainly as Remus and Lily continued to prattle back and forth about acids and brilliance and why didn't they think of this and what was this plant even called and there surely had to be one more dangerous.

"If I've given you an idea for a practical joke, I have to strongly discourage-"

Lily cut Alma off by throwing her arms around her neck happily, and pulling back with a grin, "You're the best," she said, before hurrying away towards the entrance of the tea room, Remus on her heels, "See you tomorrow!" she called, turning to wave before hurrying down the stairs with Remus.

Alma stood, dumbfounded, by the table.

* * *

Remus' return to the flat had brought with it an unprecedented calm; most importantly, during the entire week Sirius had been in a better mood, casually ignoring Peter's existence rather than displaying outright his bitterness. Peter had been thrilled to have his living-room-mate back, and hadn't hesitated to recount all the events of the past week, including his emotional roller coaster with Sirius' attack, his drunken escape, his chat with Lily, and his chat with James.

Upon seeing Remus once more on his bed, a book in his lap, James had launched himself on him, tackling him to the ground in his excitement as Sirius and Peter watched on and laughed. Remus had naturally honked and hollered about it, cursing James' existence and whining to Lily about not training him properly, but Lily had seen his secret grin when the others weren't looking. It was clear he was glad to be back.

Ever since his return, Remus had been aggressively planning Sirius' birthday, with the help of Peter, Lily and Hestia. James had been kept in the dark, being the only person in the flat who was incapable of keeping a secret from Sirius; he was no idiot however, he knew something was in the works, most likely for Sirius' birthday, and was clever enough not to ask in case Sirius overheard.

"I think we're ready," Hestia squeaked excitedly, clapping her hands together as she sauntered into the living room, her eyes scanning the birthday decorations she'd bullied the others into hanging up all over Sirius' flat. Lily hid a grin as Hestia beamed at the sparkling 'Happy birthday' sign levitating in the middle of the living room, which was charmed to explode and cover Sirius in birthday decorations. It was offensively pink, but then she'd expected no less from Hestia.

Remus rolled his eyes as Hestia handed him another banner. He was stood up on one of the living room chairs, hanging bunting all along the walls of the living room and dining room. Peter snickered and pointed his wand at the small radio Hestia had brought along with her, so it played Sirius' favourite wizarding band.

"Lily, why aren't you dressed?" the girl tutted, as she took in Lily's leggings and Quidditch jersey.

"I've been decorating," Lily laughed, as she tied her final balloon, tossing it onto the floor with the others Hestia had chucked at her to blow up. Hestia's eyes followed the balloons descent.

"Are you just going to leave those on the floor?" Hestia asked, eying the pile of multi-coloured balloons with disgust. Lily shot her a sardonic look as Peter and Remus covered up chuckles.

"Apparently not," Lily said, and Hestia winked at her.

"Why don't you get dressed, I'll put them up. If we're going to be on the same team we've got to look like it," she said, bending down to grab one and scanning the walls for the appropriate destinations, "A dress, if you please. I took a look so I know you have a lovely blue one," she added, turning to shoot Lily a warning look. Lily rolled her eyes, thinking there was really no point in even attempting to resemble Hestia who was, naturally, already dressed, with twenty minutes to spare. In a tight, revealing dress of turquoise blue, high silver stiletto heels, and her chocolate hair hanging in perfectly arranged ringlets, she looked like she'd walked out of the pages of Witch Weekly. Lily shook her head fondly as she noticed Remus and Peters attempt to subtly follow Hestia around the room with their eyes. Peter stumbled as he almost fell off his chair in the process, "What did you say the challenges were, Remus?" she asked. Remus cleared his throat and snapped his head back to face the wall, pretending to concentrate on securing the bunting, as she turned to look at him.

"The list is over there," he said, nodding to the envelope hanging by a ribbon from the levitating pink sign, "There are 19 challenges-"

"I wonder why," Hestia said, letting out a tinkering laugh as she grabbed another balloon, "Well, I've got the cameras ready," she added, nodding to the three she'd stolen from the _Prophet_ photographers for the occasion, "One per team, for proof of completing the challenges," she said. Remus blinked.

"That's clever," he said. Hestia turned to shoot him an amused look over the top of her balloon.

"It's been known to happen," she said, and Remus grinned. Her smile turned forced as she turned to glance at Peter, "Are you two going like that?" she asked, gesturing to their clothing; both were dressed in jeans and button down shirts, at the request of Hestia.

"Didn't you say to wear this?" Peter asked. Hestia rolled her eyes.

"Well, you could have colour-coded, like Lily and I," she added, waving in the direction of Lily's room, "Then you'll look like a team."

"We don't own matching outfits," Remus drawled. Hestia grinned.

"Lucky you have a wand then, eh?" she winked. Peter grimaced, "Come on! I'll do it," she said, pulling her wand out of her hemline.

"No!" Remus squawked, jumping off the chair and grabbing at his wand where it was lying across the sleek leather sofa that was once his bed- Hestia had decided the beds didn't give off the proper 'birthday vibe', "We can do it," he said. Hestia narrowed her eyes

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"That they don't want to wear bright orange," Lily teased, reentering the room in a periwinkle blue dress. She held back an eye roll as Hestia grinned approvingly at her outfit.

"I don't know what it is with the people in this flat and bright orange," Hestia scoffed, using her wand to attach another balloon.

"Only on trousers," Remus quipped. Hestia turned to glare at him as Peter snickered.

"Change your colours or I will," she said, raising her brows threateningly. Peter swallowed and pointed his wand at Remus' top, turning it red, before doing the same to his, "Thank you Peter, at least someone cooperates in this house," she sniffed, turning back to the wall. Remus turned to shoot a bewildered look at Lily, who grinned and shrugged, as if to say 'what did you expect?'.

"Only Sirius could find someone as irritating as him," Remus grumbled under his breath so only Lily could hear. Lily pursed her lips to hold back her giggles, "this room is an assault on my senses," he added bitterly, his face set in a decided sulking pout. The only thing Lily had found more entertaining than watching Hestia organize Sirius' birthday decorations, which she was certain he wouldn't like, was watching Remus get steadily more agitated at her demands.

"I'm flattered that you don't find me as irritating as James," she preened. Remus rolled his eyes and nudged her with his shoulder.

"Remus!" Hestia sung, dancing over to him. He exchanged a dark look with Lily, before turning to face her. She was dangling another piece of bunting in front of her, "You missed one!"

"Oh no," Remus deadpanned, snatching the bunting and walking over to the window to artfully drape it across the curtain rods. Hestia smirked at his retreating back.

"He's so tetchy, isn't he?" she cooed fondly, and Lily giggled as Hestia watched him with a self-satisfied smile. Lily choked back a laugh as, with a wink, Hestia conjured another string of bunting and tottered over to Remus crying, "Remus! You missed this one as well!"

* * *

Sirius muttered angrily to himself as he trudged up the stairs of his building. It was officially the worst fucking birthday he'd ever had. He and James had lost a duel, and had therefore been forced to participate in extra dueling lessons with Moody. His body was exhausted; they'd been so battered he and James had actually had to resort to healing themselves. It was his final birthday in his teens, and Moody had decided, as a birthday treat, that it would only be wise to make him fight for his life in a surprise attack scenario, because apparently 'no gift was better than knowing you'd live another day'.

Suffice to say, nobody would ever let Moody come to know it was their birthday again.

James had left the Ministry before him, having finished up his extra lessons with Moody twenty minutes before Sirius had. As far as he knew, James was already back at the flat. On _his_ birthday. It really boiled his piss that James hadn't thought to wait for him, in the spirit of his birthday. It was even worse, because, though perhaps a surprise to some, Sirius' birthday was his favourite day of the year; Christmases had always been crap with his family, Easter was always at Hogwarts, but his birthday had always been a day he could remember being happy.

And he fucking knew James knew that.

More than that, what had really fucked with Sirius' day was the fact that Hestia hadn't once wished him a happy birthday. Hadn't even shown up at midnight to surprise him, preferably in the nude dressed in nothing but a bow, like he'd joked- suggested, repeated, short of bloody _asked_ her-she should do. Bird couldn't take a bloody hint.

What vexed him even more was how much her absence from it had ruined his day. He'd been looking up at every bloody fucking owl like a child- and he knew James had been snickering about it, the bastard.

Sirius trudged up the stairs, irritably wishing he'd never even encountered Hestia because how any bloke could stand to give this kind of power to a bird, he couldn't understand. Hadn't he once mocked James for his constant state of misery? The poor pronged bastard, he should have been nicer at Hogwarts. Deciding that if Hestia couldn't wish him happy birthday then she wasn't worth it, he stomped furiously to the entrance of his flat. The lads didn't have anything planned, as far as he was aware, and he was fine with that, really. As long as they were all together.

Or at least, that's what he kept telling himself.

He'd figured Lily, at least, would have the decency to make his birthday special, but she'd been so busy at Mungo's this week that he wasn't sure she'd had the time. Ever since she and Remus had come back tittering about acid, it didn't seem like anyone had time to care about much else.

All his angst vanished the second he pushed open the door.

"SURPRISE!"

His first impression of the living room made him want to shut the door and walk away. It was too colourful- bunting in all colours outlined the room and dangled from the doorways, balloons of contrasting colours littered the walls and the floor, and levitating in the middle was the ugliest 'happy birthday' sign he'd ever seen.

But he knew all the colours could mean only one thing.

And there she stood.

A grin threatened to split his face in half as his eyes found her in the middle of the room, surrounded by his friends- his family- by the ugly pink levitating banner, a twinkle in her eye as she smirked at him. Lily was standing next to her, beaming, her arm around James' waist. Remus and Peter stood on the other side of Hestia. They were all suspiciously in similar colours, except for James, who was wearing-

"Happy birthday!" Hestia squealed, hurrying forwards and grabbing him around his shoulders. His arms immediately encircled her waist, grinning as he buried his face in her neck. He was blind to the way everyone else was happily regarding him and Hestia. Lily was practically bouncing with glee.

Sirius froze, however, as Hestia pulled back, lifted her wand and pointed it at him. When he looked down, he scowled. He was in the same shirt as James.

" _Orange_?"

"Yes, it's your team colour," Hestia stated simply, kissing him on the cheek as he continued to scowl at her, leaving no room for argument.

"What the bloody fuck does that mean?"

Hestia rolled her eyes and leaned forwards to press a soft kiss against his pouting mouth, before pulling back and beaming at him. Lily squeezed James' waist happily, causing him to chuckle and put his arm around her shoulders, as she saw Sirius' lips automatically pull up into his signature smirk in response.

"The letter says it all," Hestia said, nodding back towards the pink banner. Sirius managed to remove his eyes from Hestia's face for a few moments, only to scowl once more.

"That's the ugliest fucking banner I've ever seen," he said. Hestia scoffed.

"Don't be ridiculous, it's beautiful," she said airily, threading her arm through his elbow and leaning her head on his shoulder as she admired it. Sirius snorted.

"It hurts my eyes."

"Nineteen now and you still haven't outgrown the snark," she sighed, shaking her head sadly. Lily laughed.

"It's going to make me sick," he sneered.

"So would lots of things but be grateful I settled for this," she quipped, beaming up at him as he continued to glare at the glittering banner. His stormy eyes scoured the room and his pout became more pronounced.

"What have you done?"

"Decorated," she said, tugging him forwards towards the banner, where the other Marauders and Lily were snickering, "This is what you want, remember? Acknowledgment of the day you were brought into the world? Is it so bad that I wanted to commemorate your existence?"

"It's too fucking colourful."

"So is your language, but you don't see me complaining," she hummed, relinquishing her hold on Sirius as he turned his glare on a grinning James, who pulled him into a brotherly hug.

"I thought you lot forgot to do something," Sirius grumbled, and James chuckled, clapping Sirius on the back.

"Your birthday? Give us some credit," he scoffed, letting go so Remus could step forwards and hug him. Peter tentatively raised his hand for a hi-five, his trademark watery blue eyes warily searching Sirius' face for some sign of aggression. James held his breath as Sirius stared at Peter's hand for a moment, breathing out a sigh of relief as Sirius raised his hand and slapped it against Peters, twitching one corner of his mouth up into a half-smile but not making eye contact.

"Where'd she go?" Sirius grumbled, looking around for Lily, whom he could have sworn was there not a minute ago and who he was certain had probably reminded everyone to plan something, but she was nowhere to be found. He turned to frown at James, who smirked, crossing his arms, and nodded his head towards the kitchen. As Sirius turned, his lips pulled up into a wide smile as Lily walked out of the kitchen carrying a large, clearly homemade, cake, with the number '19' painted on it in icing. Hestia was tottering at her side in her skyscraper heels as she held out her hands to prevent the candles from going out.

Sirius reckoned he could watch his girls bring him that cake for the rest of his life.

Lily smiled shyly as she stopped in front of him, her smile widening as she noticed the way his eyes were crinkling in the corners from how aggressively he was beaming at them.

"It's chocolate," she said lamely. Sirius smirked.

"Lily made it herself, she's so domesticated," Hestia giggled, grinning fondly at Lily, who turned to shoot an exasperated look at James. He winked, "Sirius, blow out the candles," she said. Sirius shot her an amused look, wrapping his arm around her waist and hugging her to his side.

"Will you not be so bossy?"

"Will you blow out the candles?" she giggled. Sirius smirked down at her and turned back to the cake. He took a deep breath before frowning and turning his narrowed eyes on the boys.

"Aren't you lot supposed to be singing?" Sirius scoffed. Remus rolled his eyes as James snickered.

"We slave away all day and he nags us for not bloody singing," Remus grumbled, and Peter laughed, "It's been a bloody nightmare to keep a secret. We've been hanging fucking banners for hours," he added. Hestia giggled.

"And none too happily, I'd like to point out," she said, before pouting up at Sirius. He smirked, "Remus was incredibly difficult to work with. He took issue with all my colours."

Sirius shot Remus a playfully dark look, "As if he didn't whine about the same thing when he walked in," Remus grumbled to James, who snickered and punched him in the shoulder, "Bloody tyrants, the both of them."

"Suppose they're made for each other then," James murmured back, grinning as Sirius pulled Lily in for a one armed hug, careful not to squash the cake between them, or set his clothes on fire.

"Start singing!" Hestia commanded. Remus turned to James with an exasperated look that clearly read 'what-did-I-tell-you?'. As they proceeded to follow Hestia's instructions and sing happy birthday, Sirius beamed happily around at them, before bending down and blowing out all the candles to a round of applause.

"Did you make a wish?" James teased. Sirius rolled his eyes as Lily laughed.

"Probably for a monochrome birthday next year," she said, winking at Hestia, who laughed good-naturedly.

"Not on his life," she said, pinching Sirius' cheek adoringly. As he reached out for the cake, she slapped his hand, leading him to regard her irritably, "Not now, you've got to read the letter first," she said, ushering Lily towards the dining table, where James helped her carefully place the cake on the table, and directing Sirius, who was now smirking, towards the banner. She rolled her eyes and flicked the side of his head as he pretended to shield his eyes, "Man up, honestly, it's just pink glitter," she scoffed. As they approached the banner, Remus and Peter retreated towards the walls. Sirius frowned at them, but was distracted as Hestia pointed at the envelope dangling from the banner, "Open it."

"Again with the bossiness Jones," he chuckled. He reached forwards and tugged the envelope.

With a 'bang' that startled Sirius to his very core, the banner exploded above him. As he peeled open his eyes, the envelope securely in his grasp, he heard the roaring laughter of the girls and Marauders, and looked down. He scowled irritably, but secretly fought back the urge to laugh, as he turned his furious gaze o his girlfriend, who was doubled over and clutching at her stomach as she laughed.

"What the fuck?" he yelled, shaking his arm to rid himself off the layer of glitter and confetti he was covered in. He reached up and pulled a large hat off his head that read 'birthday boy'. Sirius' eyes focused on Remus and Peter, who were leaning against the wall in their burst of hilarity, before turning on James and Lily, who were practically sobbing with laughter, the former practically supporting Lily's entire body weight as her small frame shook with uncontrollable mirth. Hestia giggled and hurried forwards, placing her hands on his cheeks and smashing her mouth against his before he could start throwing a tantrum. Sirius reluctantly (not) gave in and kissed her back, actually succumbing to his chuckles as she pressed kiss after delighted kiss against him.

"I think this look suits you," she giggled against his mouth, before pulling back and grinning at him, "And I remembered the bow, it's in your bedroom for later."

Sirius was grinning wolfishly as she took a step back, and with a wink, began to pluck pieces of confetti off his arms and shoulders. He stuck his tongue out at Lily as she stepped forwards and began to help Hestia, her cheeks wet with tears of laughter.

"You look dashing mate," James sniggered, ruffling Sirius' hair, a few pieces of glitter and confetti falling to the floor as he did so, "Though I can't have my teammate dressed like that bloody banner."

"What is this teammate shite you lot keep going on about?" Sirius chuckled, pushing James off him. Remus snorted.

"Open the Merlin-damned envelope and you'll see," he said with an eye roll. Sirius made a face at him before doing just that.

"It's a list of challenges and dares," Hestia said excitedly, before Sirius could actually read the bloody parchment. He met her dancing eyes, his own gray ones displaying mingled exasperation and amusement, "Lily and Remus made it, and we have to go off in teams and try and be the first to complete it," she said happily. Sirius turned and beamed at Remus, who rolled his eyes and flipped him off, "We're all dressed in our team colours, you see. Lily and I are blue," she said, reaching out to wrap her arm around Lily's shoulders, "Mostly because neither of us wanted to be stuck with either of you," she said, pointing between James and Sirius, both of whom guffawed, "during your inevitable bout of idiocy this evening," she said. Sirius beamed and ruffled James' hair fondly, "Peter and Remus are red, and you two are orange," she said, eyes twinkling as Sirius shot her a sardonic look.

"Did it have to be fucking orange, Hest?"

"Of course," she said, turning to wink at Lily, "Don't you think Lil?"

"No other colour would be appropriate," she said gravely, nodding. She grinned as Sirius rolled his eyes, "Also, Hestia brought cameras so we could all gather proof," she added, nodding at the three lined up on the dining table.

"Right, now that this is all settled, I think it's time for us to get a move on," Remus said, snatching the list out of Sirius' hands and ignoring his cry of 'Oi, Moony!', "There are three copies," he said, distributing them to Lily, Sirius and Peter, smirking as James and Sirius immediately ducked their heads together to begin strategizing, "Meet back here in two hours, whichever team has completed the most challenges wins."

"What does the winner get?" James asked. Lily laughed, and he winked at her.

"Respect," Remus sneered, and James, typically, rolled his eyes. Peter snickered at James' overt competitiveness, "Win or lose, the only person who gets any bloody presents tonight is Sirius," he said, and Sirius beamed happily as James pouted.

"We won't lose," Sirius said, and James smirked arrogantly.

"I don't know, I reckon Lily and I could blag our way through some of these challenges with simple charm and good looks," Hestia shrugged, tossing a lock of shining hair over her shoulder with a wink. Sirius pinned her with a smarmy look and she grinned, "And tits, of course."

"Of course," Remus chuckled, shaking his head fondly as Sirius' eyes naturally zeroed in on Hestia's respective, under-clothed, body part. James winked at Lily, who grinned back at him, "Shall we?"

Sirius beamed, looking around at his family.

"Let's do it."

* * *

 **Hope you liked it! I've already started writing the next one, so fingers crossed it doesn't take too long!**


	15. Headway

**Disclaimer: I do not have any rights to the Harry Potter franchise, nor am I J.K. Rowling.**

* * *

James groaned loudly as he came to, his head pounding and his stomach feeling eerily like someone had wrung it out. His throat was raw, he could feel the room spinning with his eyes closed. He heard Lily moan back in response, and attempted to push himself so he could turn over and face her, but his muscles ached as if he'd done rigorous exercise, which he knew for a fact he hadn't. As he straightened out his legs, his calves protested, and he let out another pitiful whine.

"I hate Firewhiskey," Lily whimpered. James felt her small arms wrap around his waist from behind and her face dig in between his shoulder blades, "I think I'm going to be sick again."

James grunted, lifting his (protesting) arm back so he could pat her consolingly atop the head. She whined again, squeezing his stomach tighter, "Don't squeeze, I'll be sick," he rasped, his voice coming out like fire through his terribly dry throat. He attempted to clear it, only to wince at the horrible dry chafing of the usually soft flesh. He was horribly parched, as if he'd spent the night swallowing sand, "Water."

"I think I brought some in last night," Lily choked, lifting her head up slowly to peer over at the bedside table, "There," she said, dropping her head back down on the pillow.

"Where?"

"By your glasses." Her voice came out muffled from where she'd buried her face back into his back. James peeled one eye open, knowing from the way they stung that they were horribly bloodshot, and squinted in the direction he assumed his glasses were in. Sure enough, a large bottle of water sat on the table. He stretched his arm forwards, grimacing at the pull in his stiff bicep, and grabbed it.

"Sitting up now," he said back to Lily, who pulled her face out from between his shoulders and rolled onto her back. She moaned and draped her arm across her eyes as James slowly pushed himself up into a reclined seated position, resting his body weight on the headboard as he unscrewed the lid of the bottle. His head pounded at the new position, "Thank fuck it's Saturday."

Lily chuckled weakly, removing her arm from her eyes to look up at him. He took a large gulp of water and offered the bottle to Lily, who sighed and shimmied backwards until she'd propped up in a similar reclined position. James smirked as he handed her the bottle, rubbing at his eyes with his free hand. He yawned loudly as she drank, stretching his arms out in front of him.

"What time is it?" she asked, resting her head back against the headboard to stop the spinning. James squinted at the clock on his bedside, and snorted.

"Seven."

Lily scoffed, handing him the bottle and turning over, "I'm going back to sleep."

"If you can," James rasped, nudging at her with his knee. She kicked back, clipping the side of his foot and he chuckled, shimmying down so he could spoon her from behind, "Sleep sounds sensible."

"Get off me, you're too warm," she mumbled. Her leg shot out from beneath the duvet, searching for cold air.

"It's the hangover, I'm fucking sweating."

"Then get off."

James chuckled, "Go back to sleep and I'll get you a hangover potion when you wake up," he said, kissing her softly on the back of the neck and rolling away, kicking off his blanket before closing his eyes once more and praying for sleep to take him away from this hell.

* * *

"Will you sodding shut up?" Sirius grumbled as he threw his arm over his eyes. He gritted his teeth to try and block out her incessant giggling, but nothing was working.

"Sirius!" Even with his eyes shut Sirius knew she was beaming so brightly her eyes were practically shining, like they had been since this bloody conversation had started ten minutes ago, "Sirius!" She accentuated this second squeal with a nudge to his side.

"Piss off," he groaned, removing his arm from his eyes to cover his ears with both hands. She laid herself on top of him and he could feel her body trembling with giddy laughter. This was fucking humiliating. His neck felt hot, and he was fairly certain his bloody ears were red. He felt her long fingered hands grabbing at his wrists, attempting to pull his hands away from his ears, and bucked his hips up into her to get her off. He heard the squeak as she tumbled onto the mattress next to him and groaned again as he felt the bed shake with her renewed laughter.

"One fucking mistake," he muttered irritably, resisting the urge to push her away as he felt her sidle up next to him, pressing her bare body against his side and tangling her long legs with his. He took his hands off his ears and turned his head to glare at her.

"You couldn't help yourself, alcohol seems to make you very honest," she giggled, pressing her soft lips against his cheek, "It was a nice change to your reticence."

"I'll show you reticence," he grumbled, crossing his arms and turning his head away from her. Hestia giggled and hoisted herself up to rest her chin on his shoulder.

"Sirius?"

He rolled his eyes over to her. She was beaming, her chocolate eyes twinkling as she looked into his stormy grays, "What?" he huffed, turning his gaze to stare resolutely at the ceiling. It was far less humiliating to focus on the dents in his ceiling rather than her beautiful overjoyed face. Sirius shoved her as she giggled and flicked his earlobe.

"You're blushing."

"Fuck off," he groaned, attempting to push her off him. She wrapped her arms around his waist and snuggled herself further, giggling all the while. Without his express permission (or bloody approval), his arms uncrossed, his left one moving to wrap around her.

"You're not very good at this," she giggled into his ear. Sirius' body tensed as her lips lightly brushed the shell of his ear.

"At what?"

"Talking," she said, doing it again. Sirius swatted her face away from his ear. She grinned and buried her face in his neck, pressing kiss after distracting bloody kiss along the underside of his jawline.

"Is this supposed to help?" he choked, hissing as she bit down on his ear lobe, "Hest."

"Be quiet," she hummed, kissing down his neck from his ear.

Sirius snorted, "I thought you were upset by my reticence."

"I changed my mind."

"Clearly," he snorted. Hestia giggled and rolled half her body onto his, beaming down at his morose face.

"Well since you're clearly in the mood for talking now…" she said, grinning as his expression turned sour, "You can say it again."

"I was drunk," he scoffed, eyes flicking to and immediately away from her as she continued to smile down at him like he'd just handed her the fucking keys to the universe.

"But you meant it," she preened, as she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged herself closer. Sirius gritted his teeth as her bare-chest pressed more firmly against his, "You made it clear you wanted me to know that you meant it."

"That was the alcohol, clearly."

"Clearly," she giggled, kissing his chin. Sirius huffed and weaved his hand in her hair, holding her head a respectable distance from his so she would quit distracting him. She giggled and ran her nails gently down the back of his neck in the way she _knew_ he couldn't resist. Bloody minx. Sirius glared. She laughed, "You were so forthcoming. I'm starting to think I should get you drunk more often. Drunken Sirius may be my favourite Sirius. So happy and friendly."

"Thanks," he spat. She laughed, bringing her hand forward to place her palm against his cheek. She smiled as his gray eyes, burning bright with the shame he was feeling, met hers.

"I love you too Sirius," she giggled, registering (and frankly, enjoying) the flash of shock in his gray eyes before she leaned down to press her lips against his, "I mean, I wore that bloody bow, and it pulled in places I wasn't particularly comfortable with, so I imagine that's quite telling," she added, pushing him away as he attempted to deepen the kiss. Sirius' lip twitched with amusement as he rolled his eyes, "But then you said you loved me and it was worth it," she giggled, kissing him again.

As Sirius placed his hand behind her head, holding her face more securely to his, she bit down on his lower lip playfully before pulling back, "Say it again." She smirked as Sirius groaned loudly, dropping his hand and his head back against the pillows.

"For fucks sake Hest-"

"Say it again!" she insisted, arching away from Sirius as he attempted to catch her off guard with one of his drugging kisses, " _I_ said it!"

"Once," he scoffed, "We're even."

"I love you," she said quickly. Sirius felt the thrill of those words send tingles up his spine, but held his expression firm. It was one thing for her to know how he felt, it was another for him to be so transparent. How any bloke could stand to be so bloody vulnerable he didn't know. He didn't know how the fuck Prongs did it so openly. It was fucking mortifying, "I love you," she said again, resting her palms on his chest and beaming down at him. Her long hair fell gracefully around them, curtaining off the outside world, her honey toned waves mingling with Sirius' dark locks on the pillow. She smirked as she noted Sirius was losing the battle, his bitter expression crumbling piece by piece before her very eyes, "I love you. I love you, I love you, I love-"

Sirius's mouth smashed against hers, and he grabbed her around the waist, using his arm as leverage to flip them over. She giggled against his mouth and placed her hands on his chest, turning her head to sever the contact of their mouths. Her lips were tingling furiously with the intensity of his kisses. Sirius grumbled irritably and squeezed her around the waist, "I love you," she continued, giggling as Sirius groaned, dropping his forehead to her collarbone. After a moment, she huffed, "If you're not going to say it, I'm leaving," she sniffed, surprising him with her strength as she managed to push him off her, and swing her long legs off the side of the bed. Sirius rolled his eyes at her dramatics, leaning on his elbow as she flipped her hair and got to her feet to begin searching the floor for her clothes. His eyes roamed up and down her naked form, and he sighed, rolling onto his back and covering his face with his hands. He knew resistance was a futile.

"Oh come on Hest," he groaned, and she turned around to face him, crossing her arms and tapping her foot impatiently. He could see the amusement in the depths of her sparkling chocolate eyes and felt the need to throw something at her. Bint knew exactly how to manipulate him. She knew she was going to win.

He let out a loud huff and narrowed his eyes at her. She winked, "I love you," he mumbled. His ears darkened as her eyes widened, "There, I said it, bloody fucking sober. Can you stop behaving like a sodding harpy now and just-?"

She squealed loudly and launched herself at him, throwing her arms around his neck as she continued to giggle and squeal and kiss at various parts of his face in her excitement. Sirius chuckled, wrapping his arms around her and twisting them once more so she was pinned underneath him, finally meeting her lips in a passionate kiss.

"How much do you love me?" she asked, grinning up at him. Sirius smirked.

"I reckon enough for another round," he said, grabbing her legs and wrapping them around his hips.

"Ambitious," she said, grinning up at him. Sirius kissed her again.

"Two more now," he said, loving the way he could feel her grin against his lips, "Maybe three."

"Some of us have to go to work you know," she said, giggling as he moved his attentions down to her neck. She bit her lip, a traitorous whimper escaping her as he bit down on her pulse point, "I can't take Saturdays off. I'm very busy and important, you know."

"You're so sexy when you're busy and important," his voice was muffled by the skin of her collarbone. She laughed breathlessly.

"Shut up," she said, placing her hand on his face and bringing his lips back to hers, "We don't have time for your idiocy." She grinned up into his face as he guffawed, "I love you Sirius." He chuckled, pulling her closer to him and effectively putting an end to the conversation.

* * *

Hestia giggled, as she walked into the living room with Sirius to see Peter laying horizontally across his bed, so his head and legs were dangling off the sides. James was lying on the floor at the foot of Remus' bed. Lily was at the table stirring two cauldrons.

"I suppose we're the only ones not hung-over," she hummed, beaming up at Sirius, who was regarding his flat-mates amusedly.

"Congratulations," James spat, his eyes still closed, as he lay immobile on the floor. Sirius sniggered, earning a middle finger from James.

"Lily, what are you doing?" Hestia asked, sauntering over to her. Lily sighed, wincing as James yelled out. Sirius had his wand pointed at James, having decided it'd be utterly hilarious to dangle him from his ankle.

"If he throws up Sirius, you'll have to clean it," Lily hissed to Sirius, who smirked and dropped James on the floor none too ceremoniously. Lily grimaced as James groaned loudly, streaming profanity and whining about abuse and hangovers and alcohol and fucking Sirius, "I'm making a hangover potion," she said, as answer to Hestia's question. Hestia let out a loud tinkering laugh, "We were out."

"You're precious," Hestia giggled, twirling a lock of Lily's fiery hair around her pointer finger. Lily sent her a withering look.

"Shouldn't you be gone by now?"

"That's not very nice," Hestia tutted, shaking her head fondly, "But unfortunately it is true. Shame," she sighed, looking back around the room to where Peter was now steadily turning a shade of green and James was laying face down on the carpet, "This would have been fun."

Sirius snickered, walking over to give her a big kiss. Lily scrunched her nose with disgust at their display as tongues very obviously got involved, and looked back down at her potions, which were thankfully almost done. By the time she'd stopped the boiling, the couple had made the honourable decision to desist.

"I'd best be off," Hestia said, with a regretful sigh as she looked up at Sirius. Sirius winked. Lily shook her head fondly as she summoned four large glasses from the kitchen. They levitated out of the doorway and efficiently lined up next to the cauldrons. After waving to Hestia as she, with another giggle, walked out of the front door and disapparated, Lily began to pour the potion into the glasses.

"Why are there only four?" Sirius asked, and Lily cocked a brow at him.

"I didn't think you were hung-over," she shrugged. Sirius rolled his eyes and summoned one more glass for himself. Lily smirked as she poured that last of the potion into it, "I thought you and Hestia were the only ones who-?"

"It's preventative," Sirius sneered. James groaned loudly from his resting place the floor and Lily rolled her eyes.

"It's ready, you big baby," she grumbled, lifting her glass and taking a sip. She winced theatrically as the bitter tasting liquid slipped past her throat, and shuddered as it settled like ice in her stomach. Sirius gagged and set his now empty glass down, wiping at his mouth.

"That's fucking vile," he said, shaking his head repeatedly. Lily rolled her eyes and took another sip, sighing contentedly as the pounding in her head ceased.

"Did you have a good night?" she asked. Sirius beamed at her, and she chuckled, "All right, then this hangover is worth it," she said. Sirius kissed her on the side of the head, before turning and sniggering at James' still-prone position on the carpet.

"Are you even breathing?" he snickered, trudging closer to nudge James' side with his toe. James groaned.

"I'm hanging out of my arse, fuck off," James grumbled, swatting his arm in the hopes of whacking Sirius' foot. Sirius sniggered and nudged him again.

"Here you go, my love," Lily laughed, crouching down next to him. She smiled when he lifted his head, his jet-black mop adorably falling into his face as he squinted up at her through bloodshot eyes. She held the glass out in front of her, and he sighed, placing his palms on the floor and pushing himself up into a seated position, being sure to swat at Sirius' leg before gratefully taking the glass and downing it in one.

"Where's Moony?" Sirius asked, frowning around at the room as Peter finally managed to push himself off the bed, his complexion still tinged a worrying green, and down his drink from the table.

James' eyes twinkled, "Poor sod's been violently sick all morning," he said, nodding in the direction of the bathroom. Sirius guffawed loudly, earning a glare from Peter, who was still waiting for his headache to dissipate.

"Speaking of hanging out of their arse," he sniggered, brushing his dark locks out of his face, "Never been able to handle his alcohol, that one," he said, his smirk becoming more pronounced as the rumble of the flushing toilet sounded. Within seconds, a poorly Remus dragged himself into the living room, his hair a shaggy sandy mess atop his head and his eyes bloodshot.

"Is that bloody fucking potion ready yet?" he rasped, holding a hand to his spinning head as it throbbed. Sirius sniggered, nudging Remus' shoulder with his own, earning himself a glare, "What the fuck was that for, you prick?" Remus seethed. Sirius sniggered some more, shaking his head with undeniable mirth as James joined in, the two finding unrelenting joy in Remus' irritation.

"He's just bitter he didn't win," Sirius said to James, who smirked and winked up at Remus from his now seated position on the floor. Remus rolled his eyes and raised his wand to summon his potion towards him as he lowered himself onto his bed.

"You need to behave like a winner to be a winner Moony," James teased. Lily cuffed him aside the head, earning herself a wink, "You too love, Sirius and I dominated last night," he added.

" _Dominated_ ," Sirius preened, his smug smirk ever-present as his eyes shot from Lily to Remus- Peter was, naturally, still being ignored. Lily rolled her eyes at him and stood up, making sure to take Remus' now empty glass from him as well, as she took the empty glasses into the kitchen, "She's just jealous that she didn't get a prize."

"I'm sure," Remus snorted, following Lily into the kitchen to escape the loud declarations of superiority spurting from the two buffoons. He desperately needed a hot chocolate if he was expected to survive this day without hexing them.

"Think we should tell them we threw the competition?" Lily asked, turning around to smirk at Remus, an amused twinkle in her startling green eyes, "Considering we spent the better part of last night sabotaging our own teams?" Remus scoffed.

"They wouldn't believe us anyway," he snorted, eliciting a gentle laugh from Lily as she waved her wand to wash the putrid glasses and cauldrons.

"It's better this way," she hummed, leaning her back against the sink so she could watch Sirius and James continue gloating and congratulating one another on their stupendous victory, "They're a nightmare to be around when they don't win."

"You mean more so than usual?"

Lily turned to send him an amused look over her shoulder as she spelled the now clean utensils back into their cupboards. Remus smirked as he waved his wand at the kettle, setting it to boil, and charming the rest of the ingredients he needed to know what to do. He watched her as she observed her fiancé and Sirius with a tender smile on her face, "You're doing a marvelous job of disapproving of their behavior," he drawled. She rewarded him with a blank look. He noticed two pink spots appear on her cheeks and bit back a smile.

"Hestia could have been more graceful about it though," she said, an obvious change of the subject. Remus' lip twitched, a sure sign he was holding back a chuckle, "Only James has ever rivaled her in a tantrum."

"I'm sure he'll be thrilled to hear that."

"I'm saving it," she quipped, the corners of her mouth turned up in a half smile. Remus chuckled as he picked up his now ready cup of hot chocolate.

"For what? The day you're tired of living?"

"A rainy day," she shrugged, and Remus chuckled, "Maybe when I'm bored."

"I don't think you'll ever be bored with that sod," he said, turning to look over his shoulder as Peter stomped into the kitchen.

"Can I have that?" he asked, staring with longing at the mug in Remus' hands. Exchanging an irritated look with Lily, who bit her lip to hold back her amusement, he slid the mug across the counter to Peter. Lily charmed the ingredients to prepare another mug for Remus.

"Can't make one yourself?"

"Can't be arsed," Peter yawned. His pink face was still tinged slightly green, but was a marked improvement to what it had been not ten minutes ago, "I feel like shite."

"You should," Remus deadpanned, cocking a brow at the blond boy as he yawned once more, "I've never seen a person drink as much as you did."

"It was the challenges."

"You did more than the challenges."

"I went above and beyond," Peter retorted, shrugging as he took another sip, "It's dedication."

"It's _idiocy_ ," Remus sneered.

"I was a sponge," Peter said, his chin jutting out proudly, "I _became_ the game." Remus rolled his eyes.

"You were a fucking sponge," he snorted, "You absorbed more than your body weight in Firewhiskey."

"And became very heavy to bring home," Lily giggled, earning a sarcastic look from Peter as she handed Remus his hot chocolate.

"You had wands."

"Having a pity party in the kitchen, are you?" Sirius barked, as he strutted through the doorway, James the smirking moron on his heels, "The loser brigade?"

"Be very careful what you say next," Lily said, fighting back a laugh as Remus' face contorted with the effort it was taking him not to yell at them.

"I'm the bloody oldest," Sirius sneered, hopping up onto the counter. Remus took a large gulp of his hot chocolate, "I can say what I want."

"I think he's right Remus," Lily sighed. Remus cocked a brow, "Senility demands compromise."

Sirius scowled at her. James coughed to hide a chuckle, throwing Lily a subtle wink when Sirius wasn't looking. Lily grinned up at Sirius, "I'm not fucking senile."

"It's okay Padfoot, we know you're elderly now," Remus smirked. Sirius scowled.

"It's my birthday."

"That was yesterday," Lily pointed out. Sirius shot her a scathing look before turning to James.

"Oi, control your woman."

"I intend to," James said with a roguish wink. Lily shook her head fondly as Remus mimed vomiting into his mug, "It's all right mate, we won. We have a lifetimes worth of bragging rights."

"Because we're fucking amazing," Sirius added, sticking his tongue out at Remus, "As the oldest I demand respect."

"You can demand all you like, mate," Remus shrugged. Sirius huffed.

"He's jealous," James said, shooting Sirius a knowing look. Sirius smirked.

"He's certainly green with envy," he said, as Remus rolled his eyes, placing his now empty mug in the sink, "Or he was. When he was being sick."

"Hilarious," Remus deadpanned, as James snickered, "Your wit knows no end. Congratulations."

"Thanks," Sirius shrugged. His face morphed once more into a taunting smirk, "That's why we won."

As James and Sirius hi-fived, Remus and Lily exchanged a smirk, "If you're going to keep behaving so insufferable we won't give you your present," Lily tutted, crossing her arms as her words had the desired effect. James grinned, clapping his best mate on the shoulder as Sirius' eyes widened.

"No! I revoke my demands! Give me my present!" he insisted, nearly falling off the counter in his insistence, landing on his knees at Lily and Remus' feet. Lily rolled her eyes. Remus smirked.

"How the tables have turned," he smirked, ruffling Sirius' hair. Sirius sneered at him, slapping his hand away from the top of his head and turning the full force of his pout on Lily, who laughed. Recognising his victory, Sirius jumped to his feet, grinning so brightly that even Remus had to give in, "Come on then," Remus grumbled, throwing his arm around Sirius' shoulders and leading him to the living room. James held his hand out to Lily, who took it with a loving smile. She made sure to grab a very dejected Peter's sleeve as they left the kitchen.

"Where is it?" Sirius asked, frowning as he realized Remus was leading him out the front door.

"Downstairs," James chuckled, pressing a kiss to Lily's temple as she grinned up at him excitedly.

"It's from all of us," Lily added.

"When the fuck did the four of you have time to do something without me noticing?" Sirius snorted as they descended the staircases. James guffawed.

"You were too occupied to notice," he said. Sirius turned to frown at him over his shoulder. Lily laughed.

"With Hestia," she added, hiding a smile as Sirius' ears reddened, his head snapping forwards. James had no such tact, naturally, and sniggered loudly, poking Sirius' ears until Lily swatted his hand down. Peter snickered, hiding it behind his hand as Sirius attempted to throw him a thunderous look, only to be thwarted by Remus' tactical tightening of his arm around Sirius' neck. Peter, however, considered it an improvement; to be acknowledged, however minimally and murderously, as opposed to the radio silence he'd become accustomed to.

As they exited the building, Sirius looked around at a typical scene on the street of Diagon Alley, "There's nothing here."

"Well that's just deliberately untrue," James scoffed, as Remus rolled his eyes and directed Sirius towards one of the abandoned alleyways they'd discovered, "Florean Fortescue's ice cream parlour is right there."

"Because that's exactly what I fucking meant," Sirius sneered. James grinned down at Lily as she shook her head fondly at his antics.

"Well, mate, he's worked his whole life for that ice-creamery, it's his bloody dream, and for you to maliciously belittle his life's achievements like that is truly despicable, if you ask me-"

"Piss off James," Remus snorted, fighting back a laugh as Sirius escaped Remus' stranglehold and pounced at James. Lily managed to escape James' vicinity just in time, as Sirius' body had crashed into James', and the two had commenced a loud wrestle for power in the middle of the street.

"This is disgraceful," Remus sighed, massaging the bridge of his nose as James managed to gain the upper hand, and placed Sirius in a choke hold as he aggressively rubbed his knuckles on Sirius' crown. Sirius was cawing like a crow in his attempts to get free, "People are staring at us."

"They've been doing it for years mate," Peter sniggered as Sirius pinched James' bottom, extracting a squawk and managing to get himself free from James' chokehold.

"It's because we're so handsome," James said, winking at Lily, who simply shook her head and walked to stand beside Remus instead. He pouted and she bit back a laugh.

"We're both taken now so it's down to you next Moony," Sirius shrugged. Remus shot him a scathing look, "What? You're the sexy single Marauder now, you've got to manage the reputation."

"It's the wolf in him," James sniggered. Remus glared at Lily, who laughed.

"Don't look at me like that, it's not _my_ fault," she said, threading her arm through his elbow and guiding him towards the alley as he rolled his eyes and muttered about control and influence, "They're your best friends. That was _your_ mistake."

"Oi, Evans."

" _Lily_."

Peter snickered as Lily gestured for him to follow after her and Remus; the other two naturally following along after their fits of faux outrage had passed. They had finally turned into the alley when James managed to catch up with Lily and Remus, "Padfoot pinched my arse pretty hard," he complained, pouting down at her. Lily rolled her eyes as Remus snorted, "It hurts."

"What am I supposed to do about that?"

"Kiss it better?"

Lily shot him a blank look. He winked.

"Before this actually happens," Remus raised his voice to cut off whatever undoubtedly nauseating thing James had been about to say, given the brutish twinkle in his eyes, "Sirius, come here," he commanded, gesturing Sirius forwards. In his excitement, James dropped his attempts to pester Lily and instead pushed Sirius towards Remus. Sirius shot him a nasty look but allowed Remus to continue nonetheless, "Like Lil said, we all chipped in, and all put in a lot of hard work and research. You should know we've not done any Horcrux work all week," he added, nodding at Peter, who took that as he cue to whip out his wand and undo the concealment charms they'd placed on the gift, "And, er," Remus turned to James and shrugged, "Is there anything else to say?"

"Happy birthday," James said. Lily burst out laughing, leaning on his shoulder as he grinned cheekily at Remus, who was barely managing to conceal his amusement in his attempt to look unimpressed.

Sirius looked around, "Again, there's literally nothing here. Did you build me an alley?"

"I mean, again," James said, straightening his glasses. Sirius flipped him off, "The alleyway is here, so your use of the word literal is-"

"Give it a rest already," Lily said, threading her fingers through his. He grinned and kissed her atop the head, "Close your eyes Sirius."

Grumbling about ridiculous traditions and where the fuck is his present, he conceded. Peter waved his wand and the concealment charms lifted, "You can open your eyes now," he said, grinning widely.

Even Remus couldn't hold back his affectionate grin as Sirius let out an almighty roar, running at his brand new motorcycle and throwing his leg over it without missing a beat.

"It flies," James chortled, wrapping his arm around Lily's shoulders as Sirius, just as quickly as he'd mounted the bike, dismounted and ran at Remus, who grew panicked and attempted to take a step back. Sirius threw his arms around Remus' neck with such force that he knocked them both to the ground, landing with a loud 'oof'.

"Illegally," Lily added, though she didn't properly manage to look disapproving. Sirius, still beaming so widely that she was certain his face would split in half, pushed himself onto his feet, leaving poor Remus grumbling and brushing dirt off his arse as he rose to stand, and moved to attack James next. James managed to stay upright, and hugged his best mate back with gusto, even going so far as to allow Sirius to ruffle his hair. Lily, mercifully, got a gentler hug and a kiss on the cheek. Even Peter was surprised that he got a hug, however brief and obligatory.

"How does it work?" Sirius asked, turning away from Peter, gray eyes glinting madly as he turned to James. James smirked and fished the keys out of his back pocket.

* * *

Lily walked down the street to her parents' house, her hands buried in her coat pockets as the chilly November air nipped at her cheeks. The Muggle street was busy with young children, heavily bundled in layers of woolens, running towards the playground at the far end.

The entire morning had gone by in Sirius learning to use his motorcycle. It was endearing, really, how quickly he'd imagined he'd take to it; having never driven a thing in his life, Lily was unsurprised that he'd only really accomplished starting it before his frustration got the better of him. She'd watched James patiently attempt to teach Sirius, having somehow learned the basics from the Muggle man they'd bought the bike off of. She imagined Remus' persistent chuckles, their frequency directly correlating to Sirius' rising frustration, hadn't helped with Sirius' temperament. In the end, Sirius had simply declared that he'd learned enough for one day and would pick it up again 'later'. They'd gone upstairs, where Sirius had adorned the leather jacket James had given him for Christmas in their sixth year, because he was a 'motorcycle owner', and had then declared they had slugged off researching Horcruxes long enough and they had to get back to work.

It had been Peter who had suggested they all split up to further pursue the acid angle Lily and Remus had brought to the table. He'd logically pointed out that the textbooks from Hogwarts were hardly going to list substances that were illegal or Muggle made. Lily had been tasked, therefore, to ask her parents about any Muggle acids they might know of. The boys, on the other hand, were to search for illegal or dark wizarding acids.

As she finally got to her front porch and rung the doorbell, she took in a deep breath, praying that her parents, for once, wouldn't read into why she was asking questions. The door opened to reveal the shocked face of her father.

"Lily? Is everything all right?"

She frowned, "Why wouldn't it be?"

"No reason, petal," he said, smiling as he pulled her inside and shutting the door behind her, "Been a while since you've come over unannounced, is all."

"Can't a girl feel like visiting her parents?"

"The question is can't a girl feel like visiting her parents more often," he pinned her with a scolding look. Lily laughed, shedding her coat and hanging it on the stand by the door. Andrew wrapped his arm around her shoulders and led her into the house, "Where's James?"

"He's doing something with the boys," she said. Andrew beamed.

"I do love that Sirius."

"Who doesn't?" Lily snorted. Andrew chuckled and pulled her to a halt, his expression suddenly turning serious.

"Now, I have to warn you," he said, grimacing as he nodded towards the kitchen. Lily's eyes widened in alarm, "Your mother has lost it."

"Lost what?"

"Her marbles," he said, shaking his head. Lily rolled her eyes, her lips twitching as she held in a laugh, "She won't talk about anything but wedding dresses, centerpieces, music, menus, bloody cutlery," he groaned, closing his eyes and shaking his head as if in pain, "I imagine your presence will only make it worse," he said gravely. Lily laughed.

"I'm sorry you're suffering, Dad."

"Sure you are," he snorted, pushing open the kitchen door.

It was as bad as he'd said. Spread across the kitchen table were stacks of papers in her mothers' hand and magazines open to pages inspiring hairstyles and flower arrangements. Along the back wall, on the counter that had once held bread and cereal boxes, were cork boards, which Lily deciphered were freshly bought given the plastic sheets overflowing the bin, covered in themes and flower arrangements cut out of magazines that would suit.

And in the middle of the mess, seated at one of the chairs in her dressing gown, fluffy slippers and reading glasses, was Jane Evans.

"I'd say she's a bit excited," Andrew whispered to Lily, catching himself on the counter as he slipped on a cutout that had fallen onto the floor. Grumbling about premature insanity, he bent down to pick up the offending magazine clipping and placed it on the table.

Lily laughed, which managed to snap her mother out of her wedding induced trance. Jane's face split into a breathtaking grin as she saw her youngest, and she held her arms out

"Give me a hug, my love!" she said happily, squeezing tight as Lily fit herself into her mothers open arms, "I'm so glad you're here! Let me look at you," she said, holding Lily at arms length. She pursed her lips, "You're looking thin. Have you been eating?" Without waiting for Lily to answer, she tutted and turned to her husband, who was scowling at a list his wife has made estimating the price of various wedding venues, "Andrew, get her something to eat. She's practically vanishing before my eyes."

"That's dramatic Mum," Lily said, grinning as her father shot Jane a disbelieving look, "I just ate, don't worry about it."

"Nonsense," Jane said, tugging on Lily's hand so she fell into the empty seat beside her, "Grab her those biscuits would you, Andrew? The ones she used to steal?"

"How could I forget?" he chuckled, ruffling his daughters hair as he made his way around her, "I had to pay for bloody stitches when she started climbing the counter."

Jane laughed as Lily giggled, "After that she used to use magic to get them down. I could never understand how the jar of cookies had somehow fallen from the top shelf and landed unscathed in the middle of the floor. The number of spats Andrew and I had, blaming the other!"

"It all made sense when we got that blasted letter," Andrew chuckled in agreement, placing the jar of cookies in front of Lily. She grinned up at him and reached in for one.

"What do you think?" Jane said excitedly, gesturing around at the explosion of paper in her previously tidy kitchen. Lily snickered at her fathers eye roll.

"It's a bit premature, isn't it Mum?" she said, gazing at the cork boards against the back wall, "James and I haven't even decided on a date."

"Yes, but you _are_ getting married," Jane huffed, adjusting the loose bun she'd haphazardly thrown her hair up into, "When you two get a move on and pick a date we'll be ready. Not to mention that we have another wedding to plan," she added, smiling dreamily as she turned the page of the magazine she was perusing. She let out a loud squeal, and Lily jumped. Andrew, however, seemed immune and managed to ignore it, reaching forwards and stealing a cookie for himself.

"This is every five minutes of my life," he said darkly, and Lily laughed.

"Oh look at this!" Jane said excitedly, ignoring her husbands comment and shoving the magazine under Lily's nose, jabbing at the flower arrangement in the center of the page.

"It looks like that one," Lily said, pointing at the purple arrangement on the corkboard entitled 'Purple and Mauve'.

"This one is blue, Lily, how can it the same?" her mother huffed. Lily exchanged an exasperated look with her father, who simply rolled his eyes and picked up the newspaper he'd clearly abandoned to get the door for her.

"I don't want a blue wedding," Lily said. Jane scoffed.

"Your sister might. When you girls finally manage to narrow down a colour scheme I'll be ready," she said, waving absently at the corkboards. Lily opened her mouth to say something, but swallowed it down as her father stepped on her foot under the table, shooting her a stern glance over his newspaper.

"Has Tuney even set a date?" Lily asked, crossing her arms moodily. Her mother cleared her throat, adjusting her glasses.

"She told me she'd sent you a save the date," she said airily. Lily gaped at her mother. Andrew looked up at them.

"I received no such thing!"

"Well, did you send her yours?"

"I haven't _picked_ a bloody date."

"Lily," her father cut in, a warning evident in his tone. Lily turned to him with a disbelieving look, "I'm sure it was a mistake."

"Sure," Lily scoffed, looking down into her lap, "Same mistake as the engagement party," she spat. She felt a pang of guilt as a flash of hurt shot across her mothers face. Andrew narrowed his eyes at her, and nodded towards Jane.

"Lily."

"All right, fine, I'm sure it was a mistake," she said impatiently, "When is it then?" she asked, changing the subject before the argument could break out. Andrew nodded his approval and looked back down at his newspaper.

"End of April," Jane said, her voice coming out thick. Lily felt another pang of remorse at knowing she'd caused her mother pain, "The 23rd."

"I'll put it in my diary," Lily said, clearing her throat. It seemed she'd said the right thing, as her mother reached down to hold her hand under the table, giving it a quick squeeze before letting go and turning another page of her magazine.

"Your turn to pick a day, young lady," she said. Lily laughed, "That James isn't going to wait around forever."

"I said yes, didn't I?" Lily scoffed, and Jane laughed, placing her palm gently against her daughters' cheek.

"He's not done waiting until you say 'I do'," she said patiently. Lily sighed, looking down at the ring on her finger, which sparkled up at her much the same as the glint of mischief tended to twinkle in her fiancés hazel eyes; maddening, but somehow turning her insides to mush.

"I do," Lily mimicked. Jane threw her head back a laughed, and Andrew chuckled behind his newspaper.

"How do you think Petunia would look in this?" Jane asked, sliding the magazine to Lily. She looked down to see a beautiful, fitting wedding gown, and shrugged.

"It's nice."

"That wasn't my question," Jane said with an eye roll, drawing her finger down the gown, "She's not like you, she doesn't have a natural curve to her figure, so she needs a dress that'll help her out a little in that regard," she said, "I think this beading work over here, and the wrap over here, will really accentuate her waist."

"Are you saying my body is perfect Mum?" Lily teased. Jane sent her a sardonic look as Andrew hid a smirk behind his paper.

"You're both beautiful, perfect women," Jane said, tapping her youngest on the head playfully. Lily giggled, "Petunia has many features you don't, and vice versa."

"You mean she looks like she's been stretched and underfed," Lily said. Jane sent her a scolding look, and Lily grinned cheekily.

"Yes, much the same way you look like someone's sat on you," Jane said. Lily laughed, leaning her head on her mothers shoulder as Jane shook her head fondly.

"It was probably Dad," Lily giggled, and Jane chuckled as Andrew folded his newspaper to regard them with a bemused expression, "You know how he is."

"Oh yes, sitting on children is my favourite pass time," he deadpanned. Jane and Lily laughed, and Andrew smiled tenderly at the sight of them.

"You know," Jane said after a moment, turning to look down at Lily, "I reckon you should put your hair up for the wedding," she said, and Lily frowned.

"Why?"

"Well, your dress is just so beautiful," Jane sighed, smiling as she remembered the sight of Lily in her dress, "I think keeping your hair up will really show it off properly."

"If I remember correctly," Andrew cut in, turning a page in his paper, "one of those dastardly articles of yours said she should wear the dress and the dress shouldn't wear her," he said. He sounded disgusted with himself for knowing it. Lily laughed, whereas Jane simply looked impressed.

"I knew you'd get involved," she said, smiling as Andrew sent her a disbelieving look, "That's very wise Andrew."

"Yes, thanks," he spat, and Lily giggled some more as Jane grinned at her, "Should've had a son. Got myself into this bloody situation, surrounded by women."

"Every man's dream," Jane hummed. Andrew chuckled. There was a pleasant, comforting lull in the conversation as Andrew continued to read his paper, Jane perused magazines and Lily leaned on her mothers shoulder, eyes absentmindedly scanning the magazine pages open in front of her.

"Dad," Lily said, clearing her throat. Andrew looked up from his paper. She felt a flutter of nerves in her stomach, "Does the Muggle world have many destructive acids?"

"By the Muggle world you mean the normal world?" Andrew asked, cocking a brow. She sent him a sarcastic look, and he smirked, "Sure, I've heard of some."

"What are they called?" Lily asked. Andrew frowned.

"Why do you ask?"

Lily held back a groan. For once, she wished her parents would just tell her the information without being clever enough to know better. Thinking quickly, she decided it best to fib, "There was an acid attack at work, I just wanted to know if there were acids like that in, er, outside the magical community," she said. Andrew looked skeptical at her explanation, but seemed to accept it as truth.

"Well, acid attacks happen in our world as well," he said, shaking his head sadly, "They're not all that common, thank God, but they happen."

"But which acids are the worst?" Lily asked. Andrew's expression shifted, becoming suspicious, "Research," she said quickly, hoping he couldn't read the panic on her face, "My supervisor wanted me to look into whether there are solutions that we could use that the doctors would."

"But why do you need to know which ones are the worst?" Jane asked, turning slightly to look down at her daughters' face where it was leaning on her shoulder.

"Well, the one used in this attack was probably the worst she'd seen," she invented, hoping her parents couldn't see through her, "So we figured the more severe the better. This way I can go to the library and specifically look up dangerous acids rather than suffer through the whole spectrum."

"Is there not a liaison you can talk to?" Andrew asked, scratching his nose, "I mean, surely there are connections between you Healers and the doctors?"

"Not really, which I found very surprising actually," Lily shrugged. Andrew sighed, massaging his temples.

"Well I don't have much experience with this, but if I remember my school Chemistry properly, a dangerous one was Hydroflouric acid, or something like that," he shrugged. Lily nodded, repeating the name in her head over and over to commit it to memory, "I don't know any other, sorry darling."

"Peruse the library," Jane said, kissing her daughter atop the head, "You're still a member of ours."

"Thanks guys," Lily said, sighing contentedly as the conversation seemed to come to a natural closure, Andrew looking back down at his paper and Jane turning a page, "Sirius' birthday was yesterday," she said, wanting to ensure the conversation didn't pick up again. Jane gasped.

"Oh, Lily! You should have told us! We'd have loved to have gotten him something," she scolded, turning to face Andrew, who grimaced.

"Well, darling, I don't know what we could have bought," he shrugged, "We don't know what magical eighteen year olds like."

"We bought him a motorcycle," Lily said. Andrew laughed, and Jane turned to her, surprised.

"Why on earth would you do such a thing?"

"He's always wanted one," Lily explained, grinning as Jane's lips pursed disapprovingly.

"Dangerous machines, they shouldn't be allowed on the roads," she said, shaking her head irritably. Lily grinned, turning to see her father watching her mother with amusement.

"She seems to have forgotten how much she liked mine," he said. Jane sputtered, causing Andrew to grin, "Thought it was right sexy, she did."

"That's enough out of you, _darling_ ," she said, sneering the term of endearment. Andrew smirked, and Lily giggled, pushing herself off her mothers' shoulder to watch her.

"Mum, I'm disappointed in you," she teased. Jane shook her head irritably. Lily didn't miss the way her cheeks had turned red.

"She especially liked it when I wore my tight jeans as well-"

"Andrew!"

Lily leaned her head back as she laughed in a way she hadn't for a while, as her mother attempted to calm her raging blush, furiously sifting through the pages in her magazines, and her father chuckled as he turned back to his newspaper. It was so much easier being here, in her parents house, where there was no war, no Horcruxes, no responsibility. Here she was just a little girl with nothing to do but laugh with her parents, and nothing to worry about except planning her wedding.

"Well at least that makes things easier," Andrew said, winking at Lily over the top of his paper, "We can get him something for his bike."

"Does he know how to drive it?" Jane asked, and Lily laughed.

"He tried this morning," she said. Jane tutted fondly as Andrew chuckled.

"Tell him to bring it over, I'll teach him," he said. Lily grinned and assured him she'd pass on the message, "I've got a manual in the garage I think," he said, folding his newspaper and stretching his arms above his head, "I learned how to fix up my bike myself with it."

"He'd love that," Lily said excitedly. Andrew smiled, jumping out of his seat.

"I'll go get it then."

"Do you need some help?" Lily asked, pulling her wand out of her pocket. Andrew smiled and gestured for her to stay seated.

"Will that be enough for his birthday? We can buy him something else?"

"No, Dad," Lily smiled at him as she shook her head, "He'd hate it if you spent money on him. This is perfect, he'll love that you want to pass it down to him."

"Poor thing," Jane sighed sadly as Andrew bounced out of the room to dig around in the garage, "He's such a lovely boy. I can't believe his parents would disown him."

"He's better off," Lily said quietly. Jane sent her a tender smile.

"I'm sure he's still hurting," she said. Lily smiled sadly, nodding, and Jane placed her hand tenderly against her cheek, "At least he has friends like you."

Lily suddenly found herself overcome with emotion, and cleared her throat to swallow down the lump in her throat under her mother's loving gaze. She looked down at the magazine her Mum had passed to her, and turned a few pages. Jane smiled gently and turned back to her own magazine. The women sat in silence for a few minutes, scanning the magazines as the sounds of Andrew shifting boxes reached their ears from the garage. Lily's brain was whirring, thinking of how happy Sirius would be with the book on the parts of his motorcycle, and wondering whether a Muggle acid would be enough to destroy a Horcrux, when she turned a page and gasped.

There it was. Her sister's wedding dress. She'd imagined it hundreds of times, when she was little. Seeing it there, blatantly printed on a page right in front of her, it took her breath away.

"Mum," she breathed, grasping her mothers' forearm, "This is it."

Jane turned to look down at her daughters' magazine and her face split into a breathtaking smile, "It's perfect! Lily!" she squealed excitedly, shaking Lily's arm excitedly. She pulled out a pair of scissors and cut the page out of the magazine, jumping to her feet and hurrying towards the back wall, where she pulled a new corkboard out from under the counter.

"Mum, I think you've gone overboard with the corkboards," Lily laughed, as Jane ripped the plastic off it and pinned Petunia's dress to the center of the board. Jane grinned happily and folded her hands under her chin, smiling at it as she rocked slightly.

"She's going to look so beautiful," Jane breathed.

Lily smiled, feeling an ache in her heart as she realized her sisters wedding day was on them, and she probably wouldn't get the chance to be a part of it like she'd always dreamed she'd be. If this was the only thing she would contribute to Petunia's special day, fulfilling their childhood dreams was enough for her.

* * *

Sirius had decided it best to split up from the others. For one, he figured it didn't make much sense for them all to focus on one subject, the acid, when there was so bloody much to cover, and they weren't even slightly close to finding another Horcrux. When he'd found out the Hufflepuff Cup was in Bellatrix's vault, he'd known it was his responsibility to figure out how to get it. It was his cousin. _His_ responsibility. Even if Moony wanted to blather on about how they didn't even know if it was in her vault yet. Finding the cup was _his_.

Secondly, and probably much more pertinent to his decision-making, was that he didn't want to be around Wormtail more than he had to. He'd been behaving himself; he knew Lily approved. But that didn't mean he wanted a thing to do with him. He had no fucking clue where that hug had come from this morning. He prayed on Merlin's saggy left bollock that nobody would ever fucking bring it up.

Thirdly, he didn't want the guys to know just how fucking dizzy he was about Hestia. Even thinking about her was bringing a giddy grin to his face. Every time the conversation had played through his head- the way she'd said those three words in that fucking _voice_ of hers, the way she'd giggled it again against his neck when they'd finished off- he smiled like a fucking third year getting asked to Hogsmeade for the first time. He felt like a sodding pansy, but he couldn't care. His head was spinning and his heart was racing and everything was just so good and so perfect for the first bloody time in his entire pathetic life.

Except that he knew it wasn't. She was an idiot- she was writing that bleeding article. He knew she'd been to Mungos three times in the last week, though she thought she was being so bloody sneaky about it. He'd had it out with Lily for not coming to him in the first place, but even he knew he'd been unreasonable. It wasn't Lily's fault Hestia was behaving like a bloody fucking moron. It wasn't James' fault for telling him because Lily had promised Hestia she wouldn't unless he'd asked. Lily had told him everything when he'd questioned her.

He hated that too much of a pansy to confront Hestia about it. More so, he hated himself for wanting to avoid the topic and instead just have her tell him how much she loved him over and over and fucking over again. He didn't think he'd ever get tired of hearing it. Even if he had to sacrifice his own bloody pride and rip himself to shreds to tell her as much as she wanted to hear it.

He hadn't told anyone about their conversation yet. He couldn't tell Remus, he'd probably shrug it off or tell him it was moving too fast. He couldn't tell fucking Wormtail. He supposed he could tell James, but he'd go cross-eyed and think about Lily. Lily would be too damn excitable; she'd always wanted him to fall in love, the evil wench.

He supposed James would have to do then; he'd obviously tell Lily, but Sirius hadn't ever had an issue with her knowing his secrets. He didn't think he could bloody well keep it to himself anymore, not when he'd wanted to scream it from the window of his flat. He was pretty sure Hest would kick off if he didn't tell anyone.

And then they'd gone and bought him that bloody motorcycle. He was feeling too many emotions to be around the boys then. They'd see it in his face. Only James had ever seen him so emotional, but that hadn't been for years- not since he'd moved in with the Potters. He wasn't used to so much love and adoration coming his way. No one had ever bought him something that had meant that much to him. Something they'd put thought into, and known him so well that they knew he'd love it. Even his parents hadn't pulled shit like that; they'd always gifted him pureblood relics and propaganda. Truth be told, he'd been saving up for a bike ever since they'd read that first fucking book; he'd never imagined in a million years his _mates_ would have bought it for him. Now he had all these galleons he had no fucking clue what to do with.

Maybe he'd take Hestia on holiday. The thought of a few days alone, just the two of them, lit a flickering fire in his gut, like butterflies but more intense, like nerves but enjoyable. Shaking his head when it went fuzzy with thoughts of her again, he sneered at himself for being a pathetic whipped tosser, like Prongs. He kicked a rogue stone out of his way and shoved the thought away for later.

He needed to concentrate for this conversation to go his way.

He hadn't seen her in years, not since before she'd been burned off the family tree for eloping. She was several years older than him, and though they'd never been close, they'd always gotten on at family get-togethers. He'd always preferred her to her sisters.

He had no idea how she'd react to seeing him now. He still had her address from the letter she'd sent him all those years ago, detailing the circumstances of her disownment, when he was in the midst of his Hogwarts career. He'd never replied to it - she'd never implied that it deigned acknowledgment - but he'd kept it. Perhaps she'd taken his silence as rejection.

His stormy eyes observed the small house in front of him. It stood proud at one storey, and had a shabby overgrown garden that looked like it had once been cared for. It was a cute little thing, Sirius thought, as he pushed open the picket fence gate and made his way down the cobbles. As he approached the front door, he felt a surge as he passed through what he assumed was a magical ward. Before he'd reached the front door, it flew open, and Sirius found himself face-to-face with the tip of a wand.

Moody would have been so pissed.

Her eyes, wider and kinder than the older sister whom she so closely resembled, flashed with shock as she recognized the intruder. Sirius gave her a tentative smile as she lowered her wand arm a couple inches in her surprise. The tip of her wand now dangled by his throat, but he felt no alarm.

"Hi Dromeda."

She looked much the same, he thought. She was impeccably dressed, not a hair out of place even though she was doing naught but sitting around the house - another Black tradition. Her shape had filled out, but her features hadn't changed. Proud and angular, she'd always held a startling resemblance to Bellatrix, though her hair was lighter and her eyes had always shone with as much warmth as Bellatrix's were cold. She'd initially believed the pureblood mania - how could she not have, with parents like Cygnus and Druella- but Hogwarts had changed her. From the moment she'd set foot in her First Year potions class to be partnered with friendly Muggleborn Hufflepuff Edward 'Ted' Tonks, her path had been altered.

"Sirius," she said curtly. He wasn't surprised by her less than warm reaction. As far as she knew, he was still loyal to the Noble House of Black. His eyes twitched down as her fingers tightened around her wand, and she raised it between his eyes, "What do you want?"

"I've been disowned. For two years," he said. He kept his gaze steady, his posture relaxed, so she would have no excuse to attack. Her expression remained impassive.

"Or you're a spy," she said, the corner of her mouth lifting into a humourless smile, "Wouldn't put that past my Mother. Or yours, for that matter. Tell me, how is Aunty Walburga?" Sirius held her gaze, refusing to react to the mention of his mothers' name. Something in his eyes must have made her doubt her initial assumption, however, because her wand arm lowered infinitesimally.

Before she could say much else, a small hand wrapped around her leg from behind. Her gaze, now panicked, dropped down as a little girl with mousy brown hair peered up at Sirius from behind his cousins' leg. Sirius gawked.

 _Well I'll be damned_ , he thought, as Andromeda flashed her eyes up at Sirius, as if terrified he would attack the little girl on sight, _the future Mrs. Moony_

Then he realized. _Fuck. This was his niece._

Andromeda dropped her wand arm, clearly protecting her daughter was top priority, to push the girl behind her leg. Painfully aware of Andromeda's analysis of his every action and expression, Sirius smiled down at the child.

"Hi," he said, "I'm Sirius. What's your name?"

"Tonks," the girl said. Sirius noticed Andromeda's eye-roll and chuckled, looking up at her.

"Tonks Tonks? Not very original, is it?" he smirked. Andromeda scoffed and pushed Tonks aside, gesturing for Sirius to come inside the house. He didn't know what he had done to convince her, but clearly she had bypassed her reservations regarding his motives. Or so he thought, until he noticed her wand still clutched so tightly in her hand that her knuckles were white with strain.

"Her name is Nymphadora," she said curtly. Sirius noticed the girls face pinch with irritation and smirked.

"How old is she?" he asked, watching as Nymphadora, clearly bored with her mothers' houseguest already, skipped away and plopped herself down beside a small doll, one she'd clearly just abandoned to come and inspect him.

"She'll be five in May," Andromeda said, her expression softening as she spoke about her daughter, "Tea?" she offered, and Sirius nodded gratefully. As Andromeda bustled around in the kitchen, her eyes constantly sliding back to keep an eye on Sirius, Sirius watched Nymphadora. The little girl was acutely aware of his presence and, in a blatant attempt to impress him, pinched her little face up and changed her hair to match the doll. Her round eyes flickered in his direction, and he knew she was watching for a reaction. Sirius raised his brows and turned to Andromeda, who was watching her daughter with an air of exasperation. She waved her wand at the kettle and set it to boil, "She's a Metamorphmagus," she said by ways of explanation. Sirius, feigning ignorance on the subject, gaped at her; he, of course, knew everything about this little girl- her tenacity, her clumsiness, and her unique abilities, "We were surprised too," she said.

"No-one in our family is one," Sirius shrugged. She nodded once.

"Ted's neither."

"Obviously," Sirius said. Andromeda turned to him with a sour expression on her face, and he held his hands up, "I'm not being prejudiced. It's a valid point." She continued to watch him through narrowed eyes, and he sighed as he ran his hand through his dark locks. Her hand twitched towards her wand, "Look, I get it, you're suspicious, yeah? Who isn't these days? But you know if I was sent by any of those fuc-idiots in our family," he said, wincing at his near slip-up as she shot a look in Nymphadora's direction. The four year old was busy attempting to tie the dolls hair back, "Sorry. Language," he said sheepishly. Andromeda's lip twitched but she nodded for him to go on, crossing her delicate arms across her abdomen, "I mean, if I'd been sent as a spy you'd be dead by now," he shrugged. Andromeda sighed, and gestured for him to sit down at her kitchen table. Taking that as a good sign, he hurried to do so.

"That's all well and good Sirius," she said slowly, eyes continuously flickering over to make sure that Nymphadora was okay, "But it doesn't explain what you're doing here."

"I wanted to catch up," he shrugged. Her gaze was hard as it pierced him.

"Just like that? After over six years?" She sounded skeptical. He couldn't fault her.

"Is that wrong?" he countered. She massaged her temples and pointed her wand at the kettle. The kettle poured hot water into the mugs Andromeda had laid out, which proceeded to levitate towards them.

"Milk?"

"And a little sugar," Sirius said. Andromeda's lip twitched, "Same as you, if I remember correctly."

The two fell into an uneasy silence, before she cleared her throat, "What's new with you?" she asked. Sirius shrugged, taking a sip of his tea. This polite conversation was going to bloody kill him, and keeping track of his swearing was taking all of his concentration. He'd never bloody get the information out of her.

"I finished Hogwarts in the summer," he said. Her eyes widened slightly, and he quirked a brow, "Surprised?"

"That you're so old, yes," she said. Sirius smirked, "So what are you doing now? Coasting on your inheritance?"

Sirius shot her a smarmy look, "What inheritance? Told you I'd been disowned, didn't I?"

Andromeda smirked down into her mug. Sirius frowned at her, wondering what was so funny, before it slowly dawned on him. He'd just been put through a test. He chuckled, "Fair play cousin, fair play," he said, eyes flashing to his left as Nymphadora inched closer, encouraged by her mother's smile. Her curious brown eyes were pinned on Sirius in a way that made him want to stick his leg out so she'd keep her distance, "I did get some money from Uncle Alphard though, managed to get myself a flat with it."

"I always liked him," she said, smiling lovingly down at Nymphadora as she approached her mother and rested her hands on her mothers' leg, "He gave me some money at first as well. Must've been why he was blasted off the family tree."

"He was a good bloke," Sirius sighed. Andromeda winced.

"When did he die?"

"About a year ago," he said. She grimaced.

"Was there a funeral?"

"For a Blood Traitor like him? Are you mad?"

Andromeda chuckled, allowing her daughter to climb up into her lap and tucking her little head under her chin. Sirius smiled as the little girl began to sing to herself as she twisted the dolls hair. He couldn't make out any words, as far as he could tell she was just making sounds, "You never did answer my question," Andromeda said, calculating eyes focused on Sirius as he watched her daughter, "What are you doing now that school is over?"

"I'm er," Sirius cleared his throat awkwardly and looked down at his mug of tea, "I'm at the Auror Academy," he said. Andromeda choked on her tea, so much so that Nymphadora stopped singing to look up at her mother with concern. Actually, if Sirius was being honest, she looked more annoyed that her mother had interrupted her song. He hid a smirk in his mug as Andromeda looked up at him. For the first time since he'd arrived, he could see a speckle of something other than wariness in her gaze.

"No you're not," she said. Sirius shrugged.

"If you're going to be a Blood Traitor, may as well do it properly, yeah?" Andromeda smiled at him, before shaking her head, almost as if she was in a trance.

"I thought I'd be the only one," she sighed, wrapping her arms around her daughter as she rested her cheek on the girls' head.

"Well, I was in Gryffindor," he shrugged. Andromeda chuckled once, "made more sense from me than it did a Slytherin like you."

"Is that what did it then?" she asked. She sounded genuinely curious underneath her attempt to remain impassive, and Sirius shrugged.

"I think it was my mates," he said simply. She smiled slightly.

"It was you, too," she said. Sirius frowned at her, "That's why I wrote you when I left. I figured that you, if anyone, might one day need a friend on this side," she said. Sirius smiled.

"I missed you too Dromeda."

She rolled her eyes, "I may be a Blood Traitor, Sirius, but I'm still a Black. Rein in that sentimental nonsense," she said. Sirius sniggered, taking another sip of his tea.

"You're a Tonks now," he reminded.

"Tonks!" Nymphadora cut in, squeaking the name excitedly. Sirius smirked at her as Andromeda scoffed.

"She doesn't like her name," she said by ways of explanation. Sirius snickered, "Won't understand that it's a family tradition," she said this down to her daughter. Nymphadora transformed her nose into that of a pig, and Andromeda rolled her eyes as Sirius guffawed. She sent him a scolding look, "Don't encourage her."

"Quite a mouthful though," Sirius said, "Can I call her Dora?"

Andromeda looked up at him, her eyes closed off once more, "Why? Planning on coming over often?"

"Is that a problem?"

"Yes," she said honestly, and Sirius felt his stomach drop. He was getting disowned all over again.

"Oh," he said, placing his mug down on the table.

"Not that it's not…pleasant, to see you Sirius," she backtracked, shaking her head sadly as she looked down at her daughter, "It's just…not safe."

"What's that mean?" Sirius asked, the question flying out a mite more aggressive than he'd intended. Andromeda sighed, taking him in for a few moments. He could practically see the wheels turning in her head, as if deciding whether or not she could trust him once and for all.

"I'm no idiot," Sirius said, as the silence prolonged to the point where he felt if he didn't speak he would combust, "There's a bloody war going on. You and I are Blood Traitors. I mean, for Merlin's sakes, your sister is one of the most vindictive witches out there. I came to you because you're family," he continued. There was an anger in his stormy gray eyes that Andromeda had seen before, when he was seven and had refused to behead the Grimmauld Place house elf, "But if that's not comfortable for you, then fine, I'll just-"

"Ted saw you at the last Order Meeting," she said softly. Sirius gaped at her, "Or at least, he thought he had. He wasn't sure if it was you or someone who looked like you, but he'd seen James Potter, and I knew it must have been you," she sighed, "I have to test you first," she said, "For Nymphadora." Sirius nodded.

"I know."

"It's Bellatrix," she said. He could tell by the subtle change in her posture, the way her shoulders drooped, that she'd chosen to trust him. At least with this, "We've gone out of our way to ensure that nobody, besides the people we tell, can see this place. A Fidelius Charm is only as strong as the people who are entrusted with the secret. I trust you won't tell anyone, but if she sees you coming here often, she'll know. I can't have that. She's already going out of her way to get Ted. I can't risk Nymphadora."

"I'm sure that's not-"

"It's no coincidence that Ted has been involved in three attacks, all of which Bellatrix has lead," she spat. Sirius swallowed his words as she glared at him, "Don't try and sugar coat this for me Sirius. I was part of that family once. They'll attack anything we hold dear because we're tainting their blood," she said. Sirius' mind flashed to Hestia. It must have shown on his face, because Andromeda smirked wryly, her eyes devoid of any humour, "Seems like you've got something to lose as well."

He swallowed, looking away from her at the wall. He'd never considered that Hestia would be in greater danger because of him- because his family would seek out to destroy her for being a Half Blood, because if he got her pregnant the Black family heir would be a Half Blood. Like Nymphadora. He thought of Lily, a Muggleborn. Of James, a Blood Traitor. Of Remus, a Half Breed. His family would be out to destroy these people because of who they were, but even more so because they meant something to him.

"You can't blame yourself," Andromeda said. He continued to avoid her sharp gaze, "Don't give up on the people that love you because of your family," she said. She sounded more like she was telling him off than she was being encouraging, but that was just the Black way. Sirius shrugged it off, taking a sip of his tea. He didn't want to think about it, no less talk about it. She took his reticence as a sign that he was through talking about it, "Now," she said sternly. Her change of tone caught his attention and he turned to see her regarding him with a piercing look, "Why are you really here?"

"What do you mean?"

She rolled her eyes, "Don't insult my intelligence Sirius. I'm sure you were intrigued to come over because of our shared family ties. But that's not why you came over, or you'd have been here the second you left home," she said. Sirius grimaced, "What do you want?"

"I, er," he hesitated. At this moment, he wasn't sure if he wanted to bring it up. She was already under so much stress, so much fear. Who was he to add to her burden? Someone who he barely knew? His sister? His _niece_? Who was he to risk their lives so that his own search would be easier?

"Spit it out," she instructed stiffly, glaring at him. Nymphadora, in her lap, cringed at her mothers' harsh tone. Her gaze moved to Sirius as well. Andromeda, however, seemed to have drawn her own conclusion, "You _are_ here as a spy aren't you?" she growled, pulling out her wand. Sirius gaped at her.

"What?" he sputtered, slamming his mug down on the table, " _What_?"

"What are you, stalling? Until Bellatrix and the others get here?" she hissed. She placed Nymphadora on the floor and sprung to her feet, pointing her wand at Sirius. Sirius glared at her, but made no attempt to defend himself.

"And here I thought you'd decided to trust me," he sneered. She scoffed.

"Trust is earned," she said, holding his gaze steadily.

"Didn't you just say Ted saw me at the Order meeting?"

"You could still be a spy," she said simply, "I wouldn't put it past the Death Eaters. I imagine they want someone they can trust in there. You'd be a perfect fit. You've even got a public friendship with Potter."

Sirius glared at her and pulled his left sleeve up. He felt a deep pang of satisfaction as her eyes widened at both his clean flesh and his audacity, "Happy?" he said, his voice sharp as a knife. She glared at him, "No dark mark. You can check my wand too if you want, see if I murdered anyone on my way here," he sneered, pulling the stick out of his pocket and placing it on the table, "What else do you want? My Hogwarts records?"

"Who is she?" Andromeda asked, cocking her head to the side. Sirius frowned.

"What?"

"The girl," she said, dropping her wand arm but continuing to stare at him, "Tell me her name."

"Why the bleeding hell should I-?"

"Tell me something that I can use against you," she said bluntly. Sirius scoffed, rolling his eyes as he crossed his arms.

"You've gone batty."

"You know everything I stand to lose," she said. Sirius' gray eyes snapped to her light brown ones. She was staring at him evenly, "Tell me what you stand to lose and I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. If you turn out to be a spy, I'll make sure they know the names of the people dearest to you, even if it takes my dying breath."

Sirius rolled his eyes, "You're barmy. Cracked in the head."

"Tell me." She was staring at him with such intensity in her eyes that he sighed, dropping his head back so he was staring up at the ceiling.

"Her name is Hestia Jones," he said. Andromeda crossed her arms across her chest, "she's a writer at the Daily Prophet."

"Do you love her?" Sirius' gaze shot up, his eyes guarded. It was telling enough. She smirked, "She's a Half Blood, from what I gather, no?" He gave her a curt nod, "My, my, what would Aunty Walburga think?" she tutted. Sirius glared at her, and she smirked, "Who else?"

"James Potter."

"He's a pure blood," she scoffed, "albeit the kind our family hate, but they'd never shed pure blood," she added, lowering herself into her seat. Sirius sent her a hard look.

"He's marrying a Muggleborn," he said. Andromeda balked for a moment, before a reluctant, gentle smile settled on her face. Sirius had never noticed before, but she was quite pretty when she smiled, very much unlike the other Black women. When they smiled they radiated sinister energy. Andromeda radiated gentle strength.

"I can relate," she said. Her eyes were full of an apology that Sirius didn't need to hear. He shrugged it off, grabbing his wand and shoving it forcefully into his pocket. She got the message and sighed, dropping her forehead onto her forearms, "You're right," she said sadly, "I've gone mad with this war."

"Who hasn't?" he said. He finished his tea and pointed at the kettle to boil once more. She cocked a brow at him, "What? You can't kick me out yet."

"Because you haven't gotten what you came here for," she said bluntly, "What do you want?"

"Have you ever been in Bellatrix's Gringotts vault?" he asked, blurting it out before she could accuse him of being a spy once more. Andromeda gazed at him impassively, though he could see in her eyes that she was trying to figure out where he was going with this.

"Bellatrix's vault is now the Lestrange vault, I presume," she said. Sirius shook his head, pushing his dark locks out of his face.

"She and Rodolphus have their own vault," he said. Andromeda rolled her eyes at this, and Sirius smirked.

"Naturally," she said bitterly.

"Given you didn't know it existed-"

"No, I've never been in it," she said, rolling her eyes, "If you came all this way just to ask if I'd been in my estranged sisters vault you're a fool."

"You were my only shot," he shrugged. She snorted.

"You _are_ a fool," she said. Sirius took a mock bow and she scoffed, "Even if I had been inside before I was kicked out of the family, that would have been over six years ago, and moreover, you imbecile," she continued, looking completely disgusted with him, "whatever you want that's in her vault probably wouldn't have been there all those years ago."

"I don't want anything from her vault," he said, perhaps too quickly. Andromeda sent him a sardonic look, but didn't say much else. After a few moments, Sirius sighed, "Ah well, it was worth a shot."

"It was a waste of time," Andromeda sneered. Sirius shrugged, placing his mug down on the table, "Leaving so soon?" she asked. Sirius turned to her, frowning at her tone of surprise.

"Thought that's what you wanted?"

Andromeda hesitated, before gingerly sighing, "Well, you're here now. You may stay for lunch," she said slowly. Sirius' eyebrows shot up. He was pleasantly surprised to see a light blush gracing her cheeks, "You are family after all. The only one I've got, I suppose," she added, one side of her mouth pulling up in a half smile. Sirius cleared his throat, rubbing at the back of his neck. He suddenly felt very hot.

"Er, well, yeah," he said, "Okay, I guess." Andromeda nodded, standing up and rubbing her hands together. The blush on her face was still prominent.

"Watch Nymphadora will you?" she said. Sirius blanched.

"You _what_? I thought you were protecting her from my murderous tendencies?"

"This is my attempt at trusting you," she said, sending him a look that clearly demonstrated she was unimpressed with his jibe at her paranoia. Sirius stood up, alarmed, and Nymphadora, who had clearly understood that Sirius was now staying in the house, hurried over to her dolls, shooting him looks over her shoulder.

"I don't know how to do this," he said, unnerved as Nymphadora, clearly having no regard for his level of discomfort, skipped over to him and held a doll out for him. He accepted it and looked down at the thing. It was a horrid, dirty, tattered mess. Clearly it was one of her favourites, "I don't do dolls."

"She's your niece," Andromeda said, gesturing for him to follow Nymphadora back into the living room with her wand. When Sirius opened his mouth to protest, she glared at him, "You're the only family she has, other than myself and Ted," she said. Sirius held back a groan. He wanted to stomp and whine about it. He didn't want to babysit a bloody child. More than that, he got the feeling she was enjoying his discomfort, which just pissed him the fuck off.

"What about Ted's side?"

"Long dead," she said simply. Sirius grimaced, "The three of us are all she has Sirius," she repeated, "And, I mean, if you do remain a part of our lives after today, if anything were to happen to us-"

"I'll go hang out with her if you stop speaking, right now," Sirius cut her off, his stomach tensing with panic. Andromeda shot him an impatient look, but he couldn't be bothered to cater to her and hurried away. He could hardly be expected to be godfather to Nymphadora. Not when he knew as much as he did- how the fuck could he let Moony marry his goddaughter one day? It was bad enough she was his fucking niece. He'd have preferred it had he met her when she was older; now he'd see the bloody fucking doll whenever he thought about her.

He awkwardly lowered himself onto the living room floor beside the little girl, who was watching him with a gleeful twinkle in her round eyes at having made a new friend. She began to speak at him in garbled, poorly structured sentences about the doll he was holding. Apparently the dolls were all named Tonks as well. He held his doll up and turned it so it faced the others, feeling like an utter fucking moron. It was a bleeding doll. What was the buggering point of this? Nymphadora seemed to find his playing along as hilarious as he did, squealing with peals of laughter and pointing at the doll in his hand. With a scowl, he dropped it onto the floor. She seemed to find this even more comical than his playing along, and stared up at his face.

"Er, what is she doing?" he called to Andromeda, as his niece continued to stare at him. Andromeda turned around, and snickered.

"Studying," she said, crossing her arms and leaning against the counter as Nymphadora's hair transformed. Sirius glared at the little girl as she giggled and pointed at his hair, which hers now exactly resembled, falling in dark majestic waves to her small shoulders. As he continued to glare at her, her eyes turned the exact shade as his. She gave him a mock scowl. Sirius rolled his eyes.

"This is ridiculous," Sirius grumbled, pushing himself to his feet and tossing the doll on the floor, walking over to the kitchen where Andromeda was watching him with her usual hard expression. Her eyes, however, were dancing with amusement. Nymphadora laughed and followed after him, transforming her little button nose to replicate his straight, proud one as well. Sirius glared at Andromeda, who smirked back at him.

Maybe this was what family felt like. Fucking infuriating.

* * *

"I don't like this," Remus grumbled under his breath, following two steps behind of James and Peter as they turned into the dark alleyway. He'd voted against it. Profusely. However, he'd been unable to fault James' logic- anything dark or illegal would only be found in one place.

Remus shuddered as a streetlight flickered, momentarily illuminating the rotting sign above their heads: Knockturn Alley.

It was as dreadful as Sirius had always described, he thought. Sirius had always said just walking down the alley was enough for someone to feel their souls were unprotected, could be snatched at any minute. As if there were Dementors hiding in the shadows. Remus' eyes flickered to his right as Peter stumbled, looking down he saw the remnants of what he hoped wasn't, but logic told him was, a human bone.

"I don't like this at all," he murmured, hurrying forwards so he was in line with James and Peter. James grabbed the handle of his wand and whipped around, only to release a breath he'd been holding as he saw it was only Remus.

"Don't break away again," James huffed, pushing his wand further into his pocket and turning to face forwards again, "it's bloody scary here." The three of them had opted to wear their old wizard robes for the trip, and thank Merlin they had. Not a soul on the street was wearing Muggle clothes, and considering the caliber of people, they'd have likely been attacked.

"It's vile," Peter grimaced, giving a wide berth to a woman who was sitting on the floor, her dark cloak pulled over her head as she fiddled with what looked like a tray of fingernail clippings, "What do you reckon she's doing with those?" he whispered to the others. James grimaced.

"I think she's eating them," he said. Peter's wary expression morphed into one of horror, and he looked over his shoulder to see her pick at another one.

"Let's get out of here," Peter whispered. James, though secretly in agreement with Peter's assessment, shook his head solemnly.

"We need to see if an acid like that exists," his tone rang with such determination that Remus grimaced, pulling his robes in tighter around himself as they passed by a group of men who looked like they hadn't showered in months. Their yellow tinged eyes followed the three boys as they walked by them, "Don't look like you're scared," James hissed at Peter, who was twitching and wringing his fingers together. Remus released his cloak, standing up to his full height and placing a comforting hand on Peter's shoulder.

"Can you even read these names?" Remus murmured to James, who shook his head, squinting as he attempted to decipher what he could only assume was Latin. If the language barrier weren't enough of a challenge, the creaky wooden signs above the doors appeared to have been spattered in dark, rusting liquid. From the arrayed pattern on them, Remus figured that whatever had happened to cause those disturbing marks had happened more than once.

"I don't think these are in English," Peter whispered, as he cringed away from a figure that crossed too close to him. James gave his arm a painless pinch.

"Stop being so obvious," he hissed out of the corner of his mouth. His intelligent hazel eyes were warily regarding a group of goblins ducked in a doorwary, their yellow eyes focused on Peter's terrified expression, "You'll draw attention to us."

"He's right," Remus said, tensing his muscles so his body wouldn't shiver under the penetrating gaze of the goblins. Remus closed his eyes and willed his expression to one of serenity as the largest of the goblins licked his teeth, his hollow eyes focused on Peter's round face.

"They look like they're going to eat me," Peter snickered under his breath. James grimaced as Remus cleared his throat.

"I think they're thinking about it," Remus said, trying to hold in a gag at the thought. Peter's blue eyes widened in alarm, and he concentrated on matching James' long strides. Remus placed a hand on Peter's shoulder, "What was that store he mentioned?"

"He said we'd know by the windows," James said, his hands curling into fists as they passed by the goblins. He kept his gaze forwards as he felt one of them exhale, a gust of hot air against his forearm that had the hair on the back of his neck standing up. He heard Remus let out a sigh of relief as the goblins didn't follow them.

"I don't like it here," Remus mumbled, clearly to himself. James couldn't help but agree.

"What is it about the windows?" Peter asked, attempting not to stare at the witch they were about to cross. She was curled in a ball in the middle of the street, cackling loudly as she fingered a glowing bracelet. Remus pulled Peter out of the way as she attempted to put it around his arm, "Ouch Moony."

"Don't 'ouch' me," Remus hissed, sending the woman a hard look as she attempted to make her way over to them once more. She sneered at him, lips curling back over rotted teeth, and turned to find another unsuspecting victim, "That thing was probably cursed. You're lucky I bloody noticed."

"I think he said we had to turn left here," James said, cutting off whatever Peter was about to say. As they began to maneuver themselves to the alley, they heard a distant, high-pitched, haunting cackle from within. At the sound of it, the goblins and the witch with the bracelet scarpered, looks of complete terror on their faces.

On instinct, James grabbed Remus and Peter by the collars and shoved them into the closest doorway. He ducked in behind them.

"What the fuck Prongs," Remus snapped. James hushed him and, making sure nobody had seen, pulled the invisibility cloak out of his pocket, throwing it around the three of them.

"What's going on?" Peter mumbled. James shot him a glare before looking over his shoulder. Everyone on the gruesome street was hiding themselves in the shadows. The fingernail lady had disappeared, the plank she had been holding tossed carelessly to the side in her haste to disappear, leaving fingernails of various sizes scattered across the cobbles.

"What is it?" Remus mouthed to James, who shook his head. Remus hurriedly looked down to make sure their ankles weren't showing, and ducked when he realized the side of his shoe was visible. He tugged James' sleeve, and realizing what Remus was trying to communicate, James bent his knees, lowering his head so that the three of them were completely concealed.

Remus suddenly felt something vibrating, and turned to see that Peter was shaking with fear, "what is it?" he whispered. Peter shook his head, closing his eyes.

"I know that laugh," he breathed. James turned to him with a frown, but was distracted as Remus' eyes widened, and he squeezed James' forearm, his terrified gaze focused over James's shoulder.

Peter hadn't been wrong about knowing that laugh. She'd been with them at Hogwarts, albeit many years older. James gulped, his hand reaching into his pocket, his fingers gripping tight to his wand.

Bellatrix was followed out of the alleyway by four others, the lot of them cackling up a storm as she danced down the street. She squealed gleefully as she spotted one of the unfortunate people who hadn't managed to hide in time.

"Such filth," she cackled, pulling her wand out and twirling it through her mad hair, her wide dark eyes focused on the poor form, who was now trembling and attempting to shuffle deeper into their corner, "Can't be having that can we?" she jeered. The men with her sniggered, one leaning forwards in anticipation, a wide grin on his face as he watched her, "Let's clean up this mess."

"No!" Remus hissed, pulling James back as he made as if to stop Bellatrix. James' head whipped around, his eyes bewildered, to gape at Remus.

"We have to help," James whispered insistently. Peter closed his eyes and ducked his head as Remus sent James a hard look.

"No."

His voice rang with finality and warning. James glared, but Remus did not waver, shaking his head slightly from side to side.

Peter jumped as Bellatrix screamed gleefully, madly, and the grip of her fingers on her wand tightened. Remus gripped James' forearm tighter as the boys' hazel eyes flashed. Her voice sent shivers up Remus' spine. He watched on as she lifted her wand arm with the grace of a dancer, bringing it down in a foul swipe. James closed his eyes and ducked his head, wishing with all his heart he could cover his ears as the person let out a pitifully desperate cry. He tugged at his arm, still in Remus' clutches, and the werewolf pulled him back.

The huddled wizard began to sputter and choke, a river of blood drenching his clothing and falling with sickening splashes down onto the cobbles, mingling with the damp green tinge. The man behind Bellatrix cackled, before winding his hand into her hair and pulling her face to his, the other men jeering excitedly as he and Bellatrix began to snog in the middle of the street; a dirty, sexually charged display of passion. As they broke apart, the man sniggered and kicked the form Bellatrix had slashed.

Remus placed his hand firmly against Peter's mouth as the boy gasped. The hooded figure Bellatrix had attacked flopped over, clearly dead, the entire blood content of his body streaming down the street.

One of the men sniggered and shook his head, "A little excited, are we Bellatrix?"

"You would be too if the Dark Lord had given you such an honour," she breathed, breast heaving as she sent them a coy grin. Her smile seemed wrong, somehow, almost as if it were a threat.

"And what honour is this?" the blond one at the back sneered, crossing his arms. The man who had kissed Bellatrix, who Remus assumed was her husband Rodolphus, turned to the man with a scathing glare.

"Don't answer him, Bella," he spat, sneering at the man, "He wants the Dark Lord to lose faith in us, so that he can take our place."

"As if I don't know," Bellatrix snickered, turning away from the man, twisting her wand into her hair slowly as she looked around, "Don't think I won't tell the Dark Lord about this."

"As if he'd listen to you-"

"What makes you so sure he wouldn't?" she shrieked maniacally. The blond man paled, "Such a high honour," she sighed dreamily, beaming up at Rodolphus, who smirked down at her, "You know he said he'd trust no other with this secret?"

"I was there," Rodolphus snickered, throwing his arm around Bellatrix, "Where would you like to go first, my queen?" he asked, gesturing around the street. He began to lead Bellatrix forwards, stepping on the corpse's hand as he made his way, "I'll buy you anything you want. You've done the Lestrange family proud."

The other men followed after them, their energy now decidedly more placid as they dutifully followed Bellatrix and Rodolphus down the street. When they were out of earshot, Peter pulled Remus' hand away from his mouth.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Peter whispered, his blue eyes glued to the dead body in front of them.

"Don't look at it," James gritted out through clenched teeth, his jaw tight as he squeezed his eyes shut, trying like hell to erase the image of the blood running like a river down the street. The rain had started, and the blood flowed freely through the dirt-coated streets of Knockturn Alley.

"Him," Remus corrected quietly. James shook his head, snatching his arm out of Remus' grip and pressing his forefingers to his temples.

"Can we go please?" Peter shuddered, his voice thick with unshed tears, as he tried to keep his gaze away from the body. James nodded jerkily, reaching behind him to grab onto the boys' hands.

"Let's apparate under the cloak," he managed, though his throat felt like it was coated in gravel and his voice hit sharp as it made its way out, "I don't want them to come back."

"Side along me," Peter said, his voice trembling, "I can't concentrate."

James nodded once, sharp. He felt Remus' hand tighten around his own, and understood that to mean Remus needed his help as well. With one last painful glance at the person whose life had ended on Bellatrix's whim, James turned them on the spot and into oblivion.

* * *

"We could have done something!"

"We would have _died_ , James," Remus responded, his raspy voice clipped as his eyes followed the fuming James around the living room. He was still sat board stiff at the end of his bed, his pallid appearance not having dropped since the second he'd arrived in the flat.

"You don't know that-"

"He's right love," Lily said gently, from where she was crouched by a sleeping Peter's head, her green eyes beseeching her agitated fiancé. She ran her wand over Peter's forehead and sighed, before standing up and tucking it into the waistband of her trousers. When they'd turned up less than an hour ago, she'd been forced to give Peter a Calming Drought, on account of how badly he'd been trembling. When she'd finally managed to get the whole story out of an eerily immobile, silent Remus, she'd slipped Peter a Sleeping Potion to sleep off the shock. James had only just come out of where he'd shut himself in their bedroom the moment Lily had had the gall to ask him what the matter was.

"I should have done something," James muttered to himself, wringing his hands together as he continued pacing. He shot a seething glance at Remus, "You stopped me."

"The second Bellatrix laid her eyes on him he was dead," Remus snapped, his intelligent eyes narrowed, "You know that."

"I _don't_ bloody know-"

"James," Lily said, as the red-faced James glowered at Remus, effectively cutting off whatever he was no doubt about to scream at the boy. James turned his glare on her, only to feel his resolve crumbling under her earnest gaze. Lily saw the fight slowly drain out of him and lifted her right shoulder in a small, almost apologetic, shrug. He let out a loud sigh before turning his less-hostile gaze on Remus, who was resolutely staring at the wall behind James' head.

"All right," James breathed, closing his eyes and shaking his head, "You're right. I know you're right," Remus cocked a sardonic brow at him, and James shrugged.

"You've an awful lot of bottled resentment for someone who just 'knows'," he lifted his fingers to air quote the word, "that I'm right," Remus scoffed. James smirked at him, and Remus rolled his eyes, the edge of his mouth twitching, "Fuck off," he said, "You and your hero complex are going to get us all killed," he added. James rolled his eyes, throwing himself down into one of the dining chairs.

"I don't have a hero complex."

"You have a distinct inability not to get involved," Remus scoffed. Lily giggled, and James stuck his tongue out at her. Before another word could be said, there was a crack outside the front door, which opened to reveal an irate Sirius.

"Don't you look cheerful?" James snickered, and Sirius glared at him, slamming the door behind him and throwing himself moodily into another one of the dining chairs, "Bad day?"

"Fucking exhausting," Sirius grumbled, before throwing a scowl in Remus' direction. Remus blinked, confused, and turned to exchange a bewildered glance with an equally confused Lily.

"What did I do?" Remus questioned cautiously, after a few uncomfortable moments passed by without pause in Sirius' scowling. James snickered, lifting his wand to summon a chocolate frog. Lily pouted at him, and he smirked before chucking it at her and summoning another.

"I can't even fucking speak to you right now," Sirius grumbled, turning away from Remus to meet Lily's amused gaze, "and what are you smirking at?"

"You," she grinned, "I have a surprise for you."

Sirius smirked wolfishly, "Going to find you in my bedroom later, am I? Can't say it's never crossed my mind, Evans."

James' arm flashed out to whack Sirius, who sniggered dirtily as a blushing Lily rolled her eyes and focused on unwrapping her chocolate frog, "Watch it," James scolded, before taking a large bite out of his chocolate frog as Sirius cackled, "What's this surprise?"

"More importantly, what did Remus do?" Lily asked, grinning as Sirius' face fell into its' previous scowl and Remus nodded, frowning at Sirius, "He's had a tough enough day without you-"

"Oh _he's_ had a tough day," Sirius mocked, sending Remus a scornful look. Remus raised his brows, turning to James, who was attempting to hold back a laugh, "Didn't ask me about _mine_ did you?"

"You didn't really give me the chance to, with your scowling, brooding and inappropriate comments," Lily shrugged. Sirius pulled a face at her as James smirked.

"What's wrong with him?" Sirius asked, jutting his chin at Peter, who was lying still as a corpse in his slumber.

"It ties in to Remus' bad day," Lily said simply. Sirius glared at her, before turning his eye on Remus.

"I met your bleeding wife today," he said. Remus frowned.

"Am I supposed to know what that means?" he asked. James choked on his chocolate frog, and Lily grinned at him.

"Your _wife_ ," Sirius grumbled, crossing his arms tighter and sinking miserably in his seat, "My niece."

It took a moment, but Remus' eyes widened infinitesimally, and Lily felt him stiffen. James' face was red with restrained laughter, "I think you'll need to elaborate," Lily said, cocking her brow at James, who looked like he was a stones throw away from wetting himself, before turning on Remus, who had adopted the air of a man in the midst of a panic attack.

"I went to see Andromeda," Sirius' grimace became more pronounced at this, "And that bloody child was there."

"Tonks would be how old right now?" James asked, and Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Almost five," he groused, shooting another glare at Remus, "Fucking pedophile," he added. Remus' eyes widened comically. This comment seemed too much for James, who squealed like a horse as the shrieks of laughter he'd been holding in finally escaped. Lily bit her lower lip to hold in her laughter as Remus' panic transformed into disgust.

"You make me sick," Remus spat, as Sirius' full lips pulled up into his signature crooked smirk.

"What's she like?" Lily asked, and Remus turned to her with an expression of what she could only interpret to be betrayal, "What?" she shrugged, exchanging an amused look with James, "Honest question."

"She's," Sirius sighed, shaking his head and running a hand through his dark locks. James could swear he saw a hint of tenderness on his best mates face, "She's a fucking nightmare," he said. Lily beamed, "Kept changing her bloody hair and face to look like mine, and made me play with some bloody dolls," he added. Lily giggled, and Sirius turned to scowl at her.

"I would pay a lot of money to see you playing on the floor with dolls," she giggled. Sirius' expression turned mocking and James snickered, leaning over to clap Sirius on the shoulder.

"How was Andromeda?" James asked. Sirius sighed, shaking his head.

"Fine, I suppose, all things considered. Paranoid as fuck. Took her over thirty fucking minutes to finally speak to me like I wasn't an assassin," he added. Lily grimaced, "Ultimately fine though. She made me stay for lunch," he shrugged.

"That must have been nice," Lily said. Sirius snorted.

"Fucking bizarre, I think you meant to say," he said, shaking his head, "Bloody Tonks threw a fucking tantrum when Dromeda tried to make her eat some sprouts," he said. He turned his gaze on Remus, who still sat shock still, "Guess you'll have to give up sprouts, mate."

Remus seemed to come to life, shaking his head slightly as his gaze came back into focus, "What?" His voice was raspy.

"I don't think Remus can take any more shocks today," James snickered, before turning back to Sirius, who looked decidedly humoured by Remus' uncharacteristic confusion, "Did you ask about Gringotts?"

Sirius rolled his eyes, "What, the only reason I fucking went over? Obviously, you stupid sod," he said. James smirked, taking another bite of chocolate as Lily took a large mouthful to hide her amusement, "She doesn't know a thing. Says she hasn't been inside Bellatrix's vault in years."

Sirius frowned as a shudder ran through Remus and James, the latter of whom instantly sobered and angled his head dejectedly into his lap, "What?" he asked flatly, turning his sharp gray gaze on Lily, who sighed sadly and placed a comforting hand on Remus' shoulder.

"They had an unfortunate run in with her today," she said. Sirius froze, so Lily shook her head frantically, "Nothing happened, to them at least," she added quietly, sad eyes taking in James' white knuckles, "She turned up in Knockturn Alley and, er, basically-"

"She killed a bloke for existing," James said bluntly. Sirius' face contorted.

"And you didn't do anything?"

James lifted his head to glare at Sirius as Remus snorted, "They share a brain, I'm sure of it," he said under his breath. Lily sighed.

"Lucky they didn't," she said, cutting off whatever furious tirade James was about to shower on Sirius. The latter turned to her, flabbergasted, "She'd have killed them on the spot as well."

Sirius chewed the inside of his cheek, his gaze darting between James and Remus, before rolling his eyes and letting gout a muted swear, "I hate her," he groaned, dropping his head back so he was staring up at the ceiling, "She's fucked Andromeda up something good as well," he reached out to clap James on the shoulder.

"So what's Sirius' surprise then?" James asked, turning to Lily, whose green eyes sparkled as she turned the full force of her smile on Sirius. Sirius cocked his head to the side.

"My dad sent you something for your birthday," she said excitedly. Sirius' dubious expression dissolved to give way to reserved childish glee, and he rubbed the back of his neck.

"He didn't have to-"

"Do you want it or not?" she said, waving away his politeness, and Sirius grinned. Lily smirked, "that's what I thought, hold on I'll go get it," she said, hurrying towards hers and James' bedroom as Sirius blinked, as if in a daze.

"You all right mate?" James teased, and Sirius nodded dumbly. James chuckled and reached over to ruffle Sirius' hair, predictably earning him a slap and a squawk.

"Stop it James," Lily chastised, flushing as she handed a very excitable Sirius the manual her father had found, "I mean, it's not much but, well," she cleared her throat, unsure of what to make of Sirius' blank expression as he stared down at the motorcycle manual, "He figured it would help you figure out how to- _oof!_ " Lily squealed, as she was abruptly lifted off the floor with the gusto Sirius put into his hug, "Sirius!" she squeaked, "I can't breathe!"

James grinned up at her and tugged on Sirius' sleeve when she sent him another pleading glance. Taking the hint, Sirius released Lily and grabbed the book, beginning to excitedly flip through the pages and marvel to himself about the various parts. Lily massaged her ribs, and mouthed a quick 'thank you' to James, who winked up at her before looking down at Sirius' book.

"Look at that!" Sirius breathed, pointing to something on the page and nudging James, who frowned down at it, clearly bemused, "It's connected to the-"

"Er, there's more actually," Lily said, and Sirius' head snapped up so fast she was afraid he'd make himself ill. His gray gaze was, however, sharp as always as he regarded her curiously. Lily inched towards James, who grinned and snagged her by the wrist, pulling her unceremoniously down onto his lap, "James," she said, sending him a stern look. He grinned, "As I was saying," she said, turning away from her fiancé's handsome face to Sirius', "My dad used to drive a motorcycle, apparently," she said, watching as the corners of Sirius' mouth pulled up into a small grin, "He offered to teach you how to- _No please_!" she squealed, attempting to lean away as Sirius threw his arms around her middle and squeezed. James laughed, swatting at Sirius' arms as Lily squeaked and begged for him to let her go. When Sirius did finally relinquish his hold on her, Lily sagged into James, releasing a loud breath, "Well, I take it that's a yes then," she laughed breathlessly, shaking her head fondly as Sirius practically shone with glee.

"I'll owl him myself," Sirius said, reaching across the table for a piece of parchment and a quill, "Where's McGonagowl?"

"Er, my parents house I think," James said, scratching at the top of his head.

"Why is she never here?" Sirius scoffed, and James pinned him with a smarmy glare.

"Because _someone_ threw a fit about owl droppings in his flat."

"Slander," Sirius scoffed, dipping the quill in ink and hastily writing out a thank you note to Mr. Evans, "When is he free Lil?"

"Maybe you should include that in the letter," James drawled, rolling his eyes as he wrapped his arms more securely around Lily's midsection, resting his chin on her shoulder.

"You're being uncharacteristically silent, Remus," Lily hummed, absentmindedly running her fingers through James' hair. He hummed and closed his eyes. Remus was still sitting frozen as a deer caught in headlights. He blinked as Lily said his name, his usually intelligent gaze appearing out of focus as he turned to her with a distracted 'hm?'

"You seem out of sorts," Lily said slowly, as if speaking to an inebriated child. Remus blinked again and shook his head, cracking an unconvincing smile.

"I'm fine," he said. Lily turned to Sirius, her expression disbelieving, to see him smirking.

"He's thinking about the pedophile comment," he snickered, winking at Remus as James chuckled, opening his hazel eyes behind his glasses to grin fondly at the werewolf. Rather than scowl at Sirius, as the boy had no doubt been anticipating, Remus reached up absentmindedly to scratch at his head. Sirius blanched, "Oh Merlin he actually is."

"Is that it Remus?" Lily asked, her voice laced with concern as she turned her full attention on him.

Remus was quiet for a few moments, before lifting his shoulders in a week shrug, "The age gap just never seemed to big," he said quietly. Sirius rolled his eyes and stood up, storming over to Remus and smacking the back of his head, "What the fuck was that for?" Remus squawked, narrowing his eyes up at Sirius and smacking him in the arm.

"For being a ponce," Sirius said simply, rolling his eyes and turning way from the agitated Remus, who turned to Lily, baffled.

"Don't look at me, I'm not getting involved," she said, holding up her hands and leaning into James. She hummed and nestled into his shoulder, closing her eyes contentedly as he ran his hand soothingly up and down her back.

"I think it's nap time," Sirius said, his gray eyes twinkling fondly as James smiled down at Lily. Lily moaned and nodded her head, wrapping her arms around James' neck. The boy took it as a sign and chuckled, lifting her up in one smooth move and carrying her towards their bedroom, "She needs sleep Prongs!" Sirius bellowed after them. He heard James guffaw and turned to Remus with a smirk, "Done with your fit of poncery?"

Remus rolled his eyes, "Poncery isn't a word," he scoffed. Sirius smirked, "and surely you should be encouraging this spiral of doubt," he added, "she's your niece."

"Yeah, for a day so far," Sirius scoffed, brushing his dark locks out of his eyes, "Besides, she seemed happy enough in those books," Sirius shrugged. The boys fell into companionable silence for a few moments, before Sirius turned to Remus, a frown marring his striking face, "Does this mean you're not going to get laid until she's-"

"You disgust me, she's five," Remus sneered, shoving Sirius and throwing himself down on the bed, rolling onto his side to face away from the boy as Sirius cackled above him.

"Not to mention it's an unbelievably long time to be celibate. What if your dick forgets how to-"

"Go _away_ ," Remus whined, rolling onto his front and burying his face in his pillow as James reentered the sitting room, his face breaking into an amused grin as he took in the sight before him.

"Now now Padfoot," he tutted, strutting over to ruffle Remus' hair, earning what was probably an attempted smack but in reality a pathetic flail of Remus' arm, "We've already established that Moony's fetishes are what you'd call singular," he said, striking condescending pats atop Remus' head. Remus growled and pushed himself up to shove James, who was grinning down at him as Sirius howled with laughter.

"You're fucking disgusting," he sneered, pulling his duvet over his head as he buried his face again, attempting to block out the boys' roaring laughter, "Lily!"

"She's asleep," James mocked, tugging at the duvet. Remus wailed and attempted to hang on to the duvet with his knees, threading them in a tangled mess of duvet and leg, grabbing onto the sides of the bed as James managed to pull him down the mattress a few inches, "Mummy's not here to save you."

"Stop it or I'll tell her you called her Mummy!"

"She won't believe you, she loves _me_ -"

"Godric fucking knows how-"

Sirius sniggered as his friends continued to squabble, the lower half of Remus' body now dangling off the bed as James continued to tug at his duvet, succeeding in moving him down the mattress inch by inch. The two stopped their squabbling as a loud crack sounded outside the front door, James dropping Remus' duvet and Remus attempting restore some decency to the situation as the front door opened for Hestia.

Sirius was on his feet in an instant, his gray eyes wide.

She was covered in scrapes and bruises, holding onto her left side with her right arm, her left arm held against her chest, and a large gash in her left leg as she limped into the room.

"Merlin Hest," Sirius breathed, hurrying towards her but stopping short, his hovering hands hesitating an inch from her shoulders, as if terrified his touch would cause her more damage. His gray eyes searched up and down her body, stopping for an instant on the awkward bend in her left arm, "What happened to you? Are you all right?"

"Of course," Hestia said, struggling to put a natural smile on her face but only managing a strained grimace, "Where's Lily?"

Sirius gawked at her like she was a lunatic as she stepped around him and managed a passable grin for the other two, "Hello!" she said chirpily, before wincing. She turned to cock a brow at James, "Is Lily in?"

"She's asleep," Remus said cautiously, eyes focused on Sirius' face as he gaped at the girl. His eyes shot down to see Sirius' hands were trembling.

Hestia smiled at Remus in thanks and slowly began to limp towards the bedrooms. Sirius seemed to snap out of whatever daze he'd been in, and swiftly fell into step beside her. He moved to place his arm gently around her, to guide her, but jerked it back, as if she'd singed him, when she hissed, "Sorry," she cringed, her big brown eyes gazing up at him apologetically, "Left side," she said.

"How the bloody fuck did this happen?" Sirius sputtered.

"It was nothing Sirius, I just fell," Hestia said, attempting to smile at him. Sirius' expression twisted sardonically, and as she watched, his gray eyes ran over her body again, calculating. Hestia almost broke down and wailed when Sirius' eyes flashed with something too close to recognition.

"Your article?" Sirius' words came out a garbled growl, through a stiff jaw and clenched teeth, and his hands balled into fists at his sides. Hestia flinched as his gray eyes, alive with fiery fury, snapped to hers.

Remus winced, "Maybe you should wake Lily first," he murmured to James, who grimaced, but followed Remus' suggestion all the same, stealthily maneuvering himself around Sirius and Hestia.

Hestia sighed, reaching up with her good hand to swat at an escaped wisp of hair, "If you're going to yell at me can you at least wait until I'm fully healed?"

She smiled slightly, in an 'I'm so silly aren't I?' fashion, hoping she'd managed to at least crack Sirius' armour enough to get a semblance of a smirk out of him. Hell, she'd even settle for a twitch of his lip. Unmistakably, though, he was too far-gone to be humoured. He blinked, his eyes flashing for an instant to her wounds, before chewing the inside of his cheek as if trying to stop himself from shouting. He gave her a curt nod before promptly turning on his heel to hold his bedroom door open for her and glaring at her expectantly.

Hestia shot a grimace over her shoulder at Remus, hoping for some sign of camaraderie, perhaps an eye roll or a sarcastic thumbs-up. All she got in return, however, was a pitiful sigh as the sandy-haired boy shook his head and turned away from her, heading into the kitchen.

Hestia made her way into the bedroom, making sure to knock into Sirius so he'd behave more like her bloody boyfriend and steady her rather than her bloody father and glare at her like she was an errant child. Sirius', always clever in picking up a hint, rested his hands gently on her hips as he helped her gain balance, his gray eyes flashing to her brown ones for an instant before looking away. He released her and took a step away, his jaw locked as he stared at the wall, his expression blank.

"Sirius-"

"No."

He said it flatly, bluntly, leaving no room for her to argue. Without another word, he stormed out of the room, leaving her standing alone in the middle of his bedroom.

Hestia sighed, wincing as the movement, so slight and objectively insignificant, brought about another stab of pain in her left side. She was pretty sure she'd broken another rib- probably her third since the first time she'd seen Lily at Mungos, "No pain no gain," she recited to herself, shaking her head slightly as she lowered herself onto Sirius' bed with a whimper, seated at a lean so as not to contract her left side.

She knew she wasn't wrong, and her conviction was the only thing urging her onwards; through the pain of her weekly injuries, through the hard work and long hours, through the crippling re-writes, through constantly being on thin ice with Sirius, through her sister's anger. It was for the greater good- how could it not be the right thing to do?

She looked up as Sirius reentered the room. He stilled as he took in the state of her- bleeding, exhausted, head drooped with emotion- his gaze softening ever so slightly as his feet transported him forwards of their on accord. He seemed to come to as he stood before her, freezing and blinking, his eyes regaining their harsh edge. She lifted her chin to gaze up into them, searching for a hint of the boy she loved behind the stone coldness before her.

Hestia squeaked as the clearing of Lily's throat surprised her, the girls' startling green eyes apologetic as they met Hestia's, before they wandered down, assessing Hestia's various injuries, "Hestia," Lily sighed, shaking her head as she pulled out her wand and made towards the brunette, gesturing for her to lie down. Hestia noticed James standing in the doorway, leaning his shoulder against the door jam, his all-seeing eyes set on Sirius' tense shoulders. As she attempted to shift backwards on the mattress, so she could lie with her legs extended, Lily sighed, "Just lie down, I'll levitate you," she said, and Hestia grimaced, sinking her back onto the mattress with a hastily concealed groan.

"It's not as bad as it looks," Hestia said into the tense silence, closing her eyes as Lily gently placed her back down, a few inches higher, on the mattress. She could practically hear Lily rolling her eyes, "Really, it doesn't even hurt that much."

"Your inability to move yourself says otherwise," Lily said, hovering her wand above Hestia's chest, "Where does it hurt?"

Hestia remained quiet, but Lily saw her hand twitch to the right, in Sirius' direction. The dark haired boy was thankfully too absorbed in his own thoughts, staring broodily down at the carpet. Taking the hint, Lily cleared her throat.

"Sirius, James, could you two wait outside please?" Lily asked. Bravely, in Hestia's opinion, given Sirius' mood. Hestia popped an eye open to look at Sirius' chiseled face, and wasn't disappointed to see him giving Lily a harsh glare. The redhead, however, seemed unaffected. Or perhaps she was just used to it, "Sirius," Lily's tone had hidden in it a warning, and Hestia watched as Sirius turned his gaze to James, who gave him the faintest of nods. Sirius huffed and turned away with nary a glance at neither Hestia nor Lily, storming past James and into the hall. James closed the door.

"Thanks," Hestia rasped. Lily sighed.

"I think that was more for his benefit," Lily said softly. Hestia opened both her eyes and met Lily's.

"Are you annoyed at me?"

Lily hesitated, eyes flickering to Hestia's for a moment, before she pressed her lips together, "I'm not thrilled," she said after a few moments, at a pace that suggested she was choosing her words carefully, "I don't know if it's my place to be annoyed."

"Sirius is," Hestia coughed.

"That's for sure," Lily chuckled, looking back towards the bedroom door, before sighing again, "Where does it hurt?"

"Ribs, leg, arm. Left side," Hestia said, and Lily looked down at her.

"Only on the left?"

"Yes," Hestia confirmed, opening her eyes to look up as Lily, frowning disapprovingly, used her wand to inspect her side, "You are annoyed at me."

"I don't really think we need to have this conversation every time you come to me injured," Lily said, and Hestia huffed, "Besides, I think Sirius would be put out if you didn't talk to him about all this first," she added diplomatically. Hestia's pinched expression dissolved and she groaned, covering her face with her good hand.

"I'm not in the mood for a fight. I'm injured," she said. Lily bit back a smile, "Doesn't injury mean that people can't yell at you?"

"I don't think you'll be able to avoid a fight," Lily said.

"In your professional opinion though," Hestia started, taking in a deep, relieved, breath as the pain in her side disappeared and Lily moved on to her leg, "as a Healer and all, could you not prescribe rest?"

"I've prescribed rest every time I've seen you in the past few weeks," Lily drawled. Hestia laughed, "You clearly don't listen."

"No, but _he_ will," she insisted, lifting her head to grin at Lily as the redhead rolled her eyes, healing the gashes on Hestia's calf and shin, "Sirius won't shout at me if you tell him not to."

"What makes you think he'll listen?"

"It's for _my health_ ," Hestia added, and Lily giggled as the brunette bit her lip, her expression pensive as she gazed off to the side, "I mean, it's either that or I'll have to pull out one of my own tricks to distract him."

"Rest means no shagging," Lily said, and Hestia scoffed, turning her sarcastic gaze on to Lily.

"In what dictionary?"

"Rest usually suggests not engaging in strenuous physical activity," Lily chuckled. Hestia clucked her tongue, her eyes twinkling with mischief.

"Who says I'll be doing the work? It's hardly strenuous if I'm just lying there," she added. Lily rolled her eyes as she made her way to Hestia's arm.

"I'm going to pretend you didn't just say that," Lily said, before gently tapping her wand on Hestia's arm, "This is new," she said. Hestia shrugged.

"What can I say? I wanted to keep things interesting for you," she winked. Lily snorted, "You'll get bored of me if all I bring you is scratches and broken ribs."

"I'm already bored of you, stop getting injured," Lily said sternly. Hestia laughed.

"Don't worry Lily, these are hours old and I'm still kicking," she said chirpily, laying her head back down on the mattress as a tremendous pressure built up in her arm. She winced as she felt the two halves of her humerus move towards each other, "This'll be the last of my injuries for this article."

Lily froze, not flinching at the loud snap of Hestia's bone reconnecting. The brunette's upper arm resumed its normal appearance, "What does that mean?" she asked. Hestia hummed, content.

"Am I done?" she asked after a few moments. Lily blinked, chewing on her bottom lip as the implications of Hestia's answer sunk in, "Hello? Lily? You've not gone have you?" Hestia asked, raising her head and opening her eyes. She frowned, "What's the matter?"

Lily shook her head, putting on a façade as she smiled slightly at Hestia, "You're almost done," she said, placing her wand back on Hestia's body, "Just the superficial scrapes to take care of now. Your arm will feel weak for a few hours so you should probably bind it or something," she said. Hestia sighed.

"Can you do that?"

Lily blinked at her, before nodding, "Er, yes, I can," she said, conjuring a long strip of fabric before leaning over to fabricate a sort of sling for the girl, making sure to jostle her as little as possible. Hestia kept her brown eyes focused on Lily's expression as she did so, a small divot between her brows.

"Lily?"

"What happened this time?" Lily blurted out, and Hestia cocked her brow. She attempted to sit herself up, and Lily gently guided her legs off the bed so her feet were on the floor.

"Magical barrier," Hestia said, wincing slightly at the now all-too-familiar healing pain in her rib, "I didn't know it was there, and walked right into it. It threw me back and I landed on my side," she said with a shrug, "Not exactly the exciting duel I'm sure you were expecting me to have gotten in to. I'm flattered you think I'd have made it out though, thanks babe."

Lily was gazing at her, her eyes wide. "You found their hideout?"

Hestia smiled up at her, shrugging, "I think so," she said, her grin widening as Lily healed the last of her scratches, "I mean, why else would there be a magical barrier there? Who could have put it up? I doubt some random magical family lives there."

Lily made a non-committal noise and took a step back, her eyes scanning Hestia's body, "You're done," she said after a moment, meeting Hestia's eyes and smiling. Hestia grimaced, "what's wrong?" Lily frowned, lifting her wand again and shooting her gaze around Hestia's various previously injured parts. Hestia chuckled weakly.

"Now comes the hard part," she sighed, allowing Lily to pull her to her feet. She stretched her body out and beamed at the lack of pain, "Send in Sirius," she said. Lily smirked at her before turning and heading out, "Lily!" Hestia called, as the redhead placed her hand on the door handle. Lily turned, her hair falling off her shoulder as she met the brunette's eye, "Thank you," Hestia said tenderly, pinning Lily with the full force of her smile, "I couldn't have done all this without you."

Lily managed a passable smile in return, and pulled open the door, only to walk right into Sirius.

"And?" he barked.

"She's healed," Lily said. Sirius nodded, making his way around Lily and slamming the door to his bedroom behind him.

"Always charming, that one," James snorted, pushing himself off the wall where he was leaning- he was always bloody leaning. He wrapped his arms around her as she- with a desperate sort of look on her face- near-charged at him, throwing her arms around his waist and resting her forehead against his chest, "All right? Back to bed?"

"Promise me you won't do anything stupid," she asked, her request coated with urgency as she lifted her chin to meet his beautiful hazel eyes. They wavered behind his glasses, flickering between hers, before he swallowed, his Adams apple bobbing, and nodded his messy head. As she closed her eyes, he pulled her back into his chest and squeezed her tight, pressing his lips into her hair. She sighed and tucked her head under his chin. Here, in his arms, she felt safe.

* * *

"Sirius, are you going to say anything?" Hestia asked quietly, her brown eyes watching as he continued to lean against the wall, wordlessly glaring at her. His jaw ticked, but otherwise he remained motionless. He'd been giving her a good glower for the better part of five minutes now. Suffice to say the silence was beginning to suffocate her. She cleared her throat again, hoping to elicit a response- anything that wasn't that chilling stare- to no avail, "Give me something here, Sirius," she shook her head, exasperated, "Or else I'll probably just go to bed, I'm knackered."

Sirius' eyes narrowed infinitesimally and if she weren't so attuned to his shifts in mood she wouldn't have noticed.

"What's the point? You don't bloody listen," he gritted out, his face lining with obvious strain as he controlled his urge to scream at her. Hestia winced as if he'd screamed at her.

"That's not true, Sirius, I listen to-"

"It goes in one ear with you, and out the other," he let out a derisive laugh, turning to look away from her. Hestia shook her head, eyes wide and earnest.

"That's not t-"

"Oh piss off," he scowled, still actively avoiding her eye, "Don't give me that shit Hest. We've talked about your bloody fucking stupidity too many times for you-"

"I'm not being _stupid_ ," Hestia retorted angrily, slamming her good hand down on the mattress beside her. Sirius rolled his eyes, "Don't do that!" she cried, "Don't dismiss what I'm saying like I'm an idiot-"

"You're fucking behaving like one," he spat, turning his piercing gaze on her, "I mean- what the fuck were you even doing?" he clearly wanted to yell at her more, she thought, but for some reason closed his eyes and took a deep breath, before shifting his eyes to the wall above her head.

"I've told you before, I've been doing a lot of field research," she insisted. Sirius chewed the inside of his cheek, but chose not to say much more, turning his back on her. "What are you...? _Sirius_ ," she huffed, when he made as if to walk out of the room. She pushed herself to her feet to reach out and grab his arm, " _Talk_ to me."

He growled and shook her arm off as if she'd electrocuted him, turning and pinning her under his furious gaze, "What?" he spat, "What do you want me to say? Cheer and fucking congratulate you on your bloody field research? When you won't even fucking tell me what that means?" he scoffed, stepping around her- mercifully in the opposite direction of the door- to put some distance between them so she couldn't distract him with her lethal touch.

"It's not that I don't want to tell you-"

"Then tell me!" he shouted, spreading his arms out to the side, "Fucking _tell_ me. What's field research entail Hest?" he snapped, stepping forwards so there were only a few feet of space between them. Hestia gulped, but otherwise showed no sign of the fluttering panic growing in her stomach. She knew he'd go ballistic. As if he could read her mind, he smirked. It was different to the one she was used to- this one was empty, and his eyes remained cruel and unforgiving, "See? You know it's bad. If you can't even tell _me_ surely you can see that what you're doing is absurd."

"You're the last person I can talk to about this," Hestia said, her voice wavering as Sirius' eyes flashed.

"I should be the first," he growled. Hestia sighed, crossing her arms and looking down at her feet, "I mean, did you register the state of yourself? How can you possibly think what you're doing is anything short of almost criminally reckless?"

"You're making it a big deal!" Hestia protested, shaking her head and dropping her arms. She reached out to grab his hand but he jerked away, putting some distance between them, "It's always this bad, it's nothing-"

Sirius roared a humourless laugh, "Oh, it's always this bad, is it? Thanks," he snorted, glaring at her through the rogue strands of his dark hair as they fell into his face, "Not like I fucking knew, because you don't fucking tell me anything. I had to hear from James and Lily."

"Of _course_ I don't tell you anything! Look at yourself! Look at how you're reacting right now!" she exclaimed, gesturing at him with her fingers splayed wide. Sirius' eyes narrowed, "I mean, Sirius, you're behaving like-"

"Like a fucking _adult_!" he roared, turning on her. He shoved at her arm so it was no longer pointing at him, "Like someone who is fucking _rational_ enough to see-"

"You? Rational?" Hestia hooted, "Don't make me laugh Sirius, you're the most irrational person in the world when it comes to this stuff."

"With good reason," he retorted, shaking his head, eyes wide, as if he couldn't believe she could be so thoughtless, "It's dangerous! You're taking so many bloody risks now that you don't even see when you're crossing the fucking line!"

"What _line_ ,Sirius?" Hestia yelled, exasperated, "What arbitrary line have I crossed? What exactly have I put at risk by trying to-"

" _Yourself_ ," Sirius bellowed, cutting her off. Hestia faltered, "Merlin's balls how are you this fucking blind?"

" _Blind_? I'm not the one who's blind Sirius; I'm the only one who's seeing this situation clearly! A few minor injuries is hardly a large price to pay to do the right thing, for the greater good-"

Sirius' eyes darkened and he stormed at her, "A few minor injuries? Are you bloody daft? You've seen Lily over three times this past week Hest, don't think I don't know about it. That's not fucking minor, that's stupidity. I mean, look at today, your ribwas fucking _broken_ -"

"It wasn't the first time-"

"Which only makes you more stupid!" he shouted, his voice overshadowing hers in its sheer volume.

" _Why_ Sirius?" she countered, taking a step forwards, "What is it that I'm doing that's so stupid? Taking a risk for journalistic integrity? That's what I do Sirius, that's my job!"

Sirius sneered at her, "Your job is to write for _The_ _Prophet_. That's it."

"Which is supposed to tell the truth!" she cried, taking another step at him. Sirius held his ground, glowering at her, "I didn't choose _The Prophet_ on a whim, Sirius. I wanted to tell people the truth, to give them all the information they're entitled to. People deserve to know the world is becoming a dangerous place, that these attacks are pre-planned and targeted, that they're not random. They're more frightened now because they don't know what to expect. They deserve to know exactly what's been happening and why-"

"Then why won't anyone else write it?" Sirius shouted, scowling at her and attempting to suppress the reluctant pride he could feel rising in his chest for her conviction, "Why is it you're the only fool noble enough to write this fucking article, when not a single other person will touch it? Not a single person has even _considered_ writing it! Don't you think there may be a fucking reason for people not to write against him?"

"That's not really my concern, Sirius."

"Well it _should be_!" Sirius cried, "It'll be the first article written against You-Know-Who to ever be published, and _you'll_ be the one publishing it! It _should_ be your concern."

"Well it's not," Hestia snapped steadily. She held his gaze firmly, her brown eyes shining with determination, "I know I'm not a Healer or an Auror, but fighting against You-Know-Who is everyone's job and they should do so to the best of their ability. Telling people about him, not leaving these attacks a mystery and popping this bloody bubble the world has been living in will do so much to help us fight against him," she insisted. She placed a gentle hand on his forearm, "How can you not see that? This is me doing my part to help end this war. And what's the worst that can happen? They come after me?" she sniffed, raising her chin proudly as she held his gaze, "Well so be it, I've accepted that-"

"IT'S NOT JUST ABOUT YOU!" Sirius roared, snatching his arm away from her. The lines in his furious face becoming more pronounced as his breathing became heavier. His muscles seemed to ripple with the amount of rage percolating under the surface of his skin. His eyes must have charged electricity for she couldn't move her feet. She'd never seen him so out of control.

"W-what?" she stuttered, frowning at him and attempting to take a step forwards. Sirius retreated several steps, pulling at the roots of his hair. He looked like a madman, with his crazed eyes shuttling between her face and the floor and every other surface of the room. His knuckles were white against his head and she was fairly certain he was pulling out several strands of hair in his anger, "Sirius, who else would it-"

"WHAT ABOUT ME?" he threw at her, turning on the spot and to meet her eyes with a new kind of desperation and urgency she had yet to encounter in him. Hestia's breath hitched.

"What? I-I don't-"

"What about me?" he repeated. He sounded on the verge of tears, and she watched as he fought to keep his fury at the surface, "I'm bloody fucking in love with you, what will _I_ do if something happens to you? Have you ever thought about that? You come charging into my life like this and turn it all around and make a mess and say you love me and…and then what? You just _leave_?" The look in his eyes seemed to connect directly to something inside her, and she was unable to move, unable to breathe, "Well fuck you Hest. It's _bullshit_. I'm not having it!"

"I'm not going anywhere Sirius," she said through semi-numb lips, wanting nothing more than to charge at him and take him in her arms. She'd never seen him so vulnerable.

It was everything she'd wanted all at the wrong time.

"BUT YOU MIGHT," he roared, the effort to shout seeming to drain most of the energy from his body. He dropped his head, bringing up one of his hands to rub at his forehead, the other to rest on his hip. When he spoke, his voice croaked, "You might. What if something happens to you? What the fuck am I supposed to do? It'll be my fault-"

"It won't be your fault," she insisted, taking a careful step towards him, as if worried he'd lash out and she'd be too close to escape the crossfire, "I made this choice. This isn't your job-"

Something seemed to snap in him, and she watched as his anger returned full force, "Isn't my job? Are you fucking daft? Protecting you from your bloody self isn't my job?"

"You don't need to protect me," she urged. Sirius glared at her.

"Well clearly I fucking do."

"Sirius-"

She couldn't continue, she didn't know what else to say. She chose instead to stare at him, to cajole him with her eyes, to plead with him to understand her perspective. She knew she was right, she could see that even he knew she was doing a good thing. She wished he'd just stop fighting her.

Sirius' eyes seemed to be pleading the same thing.

Abruptly, something in him shattered and he hurried towards her, grabbing her roughly by the shoulders. His gray eyes pierced into her, "Stop it," he choked, his grip becoming firmer, "Stop writing it. Please. I'm…I'm begging you here, Hest. Please, don't do it. Give it to someone else. Write it and put someone else's name on it even. I don't care. Just…I don't want _them_ to know it was _you_."

Hestia huffed, pushing his hands off her, "Who is _them_ , Sirius?"

"You know Who! The Death Eaters!"

"You're being ridiculous-"

"My bloody family!" he wailed. Hestia stumbled in her sentence, unable to finish it at the pained look in his eye.

"…your family?"

Sirius' gaze was hard as he scoffed, "Let's not pretend you don't fucking know who my family is," his voice was hard as ice. She had the decency to look contrite; of course she knew about his family, "Don't play dumb. It doesn't suit you."

Hestia sighed, "Sirius, they're not going to come after me just because-"

" _Yes_ , they fucking _will_ ," he insisted, gripping his hair as if so frustrated with her he had to keep his hands busy.

Hestia glared at him, "Sirius you can't stop me from writing this article."

"Put a fucking _alias_ on it then!" he urged, meeting her eyes, "Compromise with me here, meet me in the middle. Write your fucking article if you want just don't take credit for it!"

This idea was preposterous to her, "No!" she scoffed, crossing her arms. Sirius thought she looked like she was about to laugh at him and narrowed his eyes as something in his head clicked. He let out a bark of laughter.

"This is about your fucking reputation, isn't it?" he snorted, shaking his head, "You want your bloody name on this to get ahead in your career."

Hestia didn't deny it, instead she regarded him shrewdly, "And what's so wrong with that?"

Sirius let out a growl of frustration, "I had no idea you were this fucking egotistical, this is so much bigger than your bloody job, Hest-"

"It isn't! People need to know there are people, _real people_ who they _know_ ,that are against this, that are willing to stand up and tell the truth! What good is an alias going to do? Why should they believe something written by a person that doesn't exist? What element of truth would it provide here?"

"This isn't about the fucking people-"

"It is!" Hestia snapped, "Journalism is _for_ the people! I don't write for my fucking self. Telling people the unbiased truth- that's the job. And so what if I want to my name on it? I've worked hard to get here, Sirius, and I'm the one who'll go down if this goes badly, I deserve the-"

Sirius stormed at her, his eyes crackling with fury, " _Change_ the bloody _name_!"

"I can't!" she shouted, releasing all her energy in one burst, "The article's already gone to press!"

Sirius stumbled, stopping in his tracks, "What did you say?" he croaked, his voice barely more than a whisper. She nodded fiercely.

"It'll be in the morning edition of _The Prophet_."

"Tomorrow?" he said the word like a death sentence. Hestia simply stared at him, keeping her expression hard.

"It's done."

It took a moment for Sirius to absorb the words, and as she looked on he seemed to crumble in on himself, falling down onto the bed and dropping his head in his hands as all the fight drained out of him, as if it were made of him. Hestia was still for a moment, before tottering over and falling on her knees beside him. She grasped his hands and tried to tug them away from his face. He didn't budge, the muscles in his arms rippling in an effort to keep his hands there.

She felt a wave of heart-gripping emotion roll over her as he started to shake, and hesitantly placed her hand on his shoulder, "I'll be fine," she murmured, stroking gently.

"No you won't. You'll get fucking attacked," his voice came out muffled through his hands, strangled through his tears.

Hestia sighed, wrapping her fingers around his palms, attempting to pull his hands from his face and meet his eyes, "I'm not scared."

Sirius lifted his head, allowing her to hold one of his hands tightly in her own, his red-rimmed eyes meeting hers. She placed one of her hands on his cheek, wiping away some of the wetness around his left eye.

"I am," he choked. Hestia gave him a sad smile and leaned forwards to meet his lips in a gentle kiss.

"That's enough, it's done," she murmured, kissing him one, two, three more times before pulling away and leaning her forehead against his, "Just be with me." Sirius brought one of his hands into her hair, holding her in place, "You know I do love you."

"I know," he sighed. Hestia smiled slightly, dropping another kiss on his pouting mouth.

"How was your day?"

Sirius shook his head sadly, feeling like a man who'd lost the most important battle he'd had to fight. He'd been too late, "Ask me in the morning."

"Okay."

* * *

"Have you seen this?" Alma gasped, hurrying over to Lily, her hands laden with fruit as they usually were in the mornings. She chucked one of the apples at Lily, who caught it with a grateful smile.

"Seen what?"

Alma's eyes widened and she unfolded from beneath her arm a piece of parchment. Lily flinched as the girl brandished the morning's copy of the _Daily Prophet_ , laying it out on the bench between their lockers, "Hestia wrote an article."

"I know," sighed Lily, shaking her head as she looked down at the winking picture of Hestia above the article on the front page. Alma raised her brows accusingly.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't know if she'd publish it," Lily shrugged, grimacing, "Sirius has been trying to stop her."

"Why?" Alma scoffed. Lily looked up at her, flabbergasted, "I mean, all right," Alma shrugged, "I'll concede it's not all that safe, but its such a brave thing to have done. And long overdue, if you ask me," she said. Lily sighed again, taking a bite out of the apple.

"Safety was his key concern, he asked her to use an alias," she said. Alma seemed momentarily taken aback, before a small crease appeared between her brows. She chewed at the inside of her cheek, her eyes flickering between the Prophet and Lily.

"That was…smart," she said begrudgingly.

"And he was annoyed she kept injuring herself doing field research," Lily said, rolling her eyes. Alma huffed.

"Well all right, I suppose, maybe, he was being reasonable. Perhaps," she said, her face contorting as if she'd sucked on a lemon. Lily laughed.

"Will you never be able to give Sirius a compliment without making that face?" she giggled. Alma rolled her eyes as she unpeeled her banana.

"I'll always indubitably be on Hestia's side," she said. Lily laughed, shaking her head fondly, "Is that why she's been here so bloody much? For healing?"

"Yes, she showed up at the flat yesterday in quite a state," Lily sighed, wincing as she recalled Hestia's broken form from the previous evening, "that's what triggered Sirius."

"And being Hestia I imagine she hadn't really told him anything," Alma chortled. Lily rolled her eyes, and Alma snickered, "Oh Hestia, I think she may be one of my favourite humans," she was practically vibrating with excitement, before looking up at Lily with a wicked grin, "It's quite cool isn't it? Knowing someone in the papers," she giggled, looking down at the front page, where Hestia winked up at her. She snickered again, "Look at her, she's so spunky. Think I could ever be like her?"

"Have you put some sort of potion in these?" Lily teased, gesturing to her half eaten apple. Alma rolled her eyes.

"There are more exciting things in my life than drugging fruits, I'll have you know," Alma said, speaking at an unnaturally quick pace. Lily smirked.

"Like Owen?"

"Precisely," Alma said, beaming at Lily, who raised a brow at her, "Since I know you're dying to ask I'll just tell you," she said, flipping some of her chocolate hair over her shoulder. Lily laughed, shaking her head fondly as Alma nearly danced on the spot.

"Please, go ahead," Lily smiled, taking another bite of her apple.

"I have made a very adult decision," Alma declared. Lily looked up at the heavens, fighting off a smile at the girls' dramatics, "I think you'll be very impressed, and have no choice but to be unyieldingly supportive," she said. Lily raised her brows.

"Are you getting married?"

Alma snorted loudly, "Don't be bloody ridiculous Lily, as if," she huffed, and Lily laughed, "Let's not get ahead of ourselves. No man can tie me down. I'm a free spirit."

"And Owen has done what exactly, then?" she giggled. Alma glared.

"He's not tied me down, he's just…holding my hand," she said, nodding her head as Lily laughed, "while I soar."

"You don't have hands if you're soaring, you have wings," Lily pointed out. Alma rolled her eyes.

"So fucking pedantic," she scoffed, "I mean, clearly there are more important things in this room than your wings versus hands debate," she said. Lily grinned.

"Like Hestia's article?"

"Like my recently acquired maturity," Alma sneered, before her eyes flickered down to the bench, "And of course the article," she added as an afterthought. Lily giggled.

"So what exactly have you done?"

Alma beamed, her eyes crinkling in the corners, "I've decided to move in with Owen."

Lily gaped at her for a moment, before the corners of her mouth pulled up in a blinding grin, "Alma!" she squealed excitedly, reaching over the bench to pull her friend into an embrace. Alma tittered in her ear as she hugged Lily back with gusto.

"I know!" Alma said excitedly, brushing her hair out of her eyes as she continued to near-bounce on the spot, "I brought it up yesterday and he smirked and was all 'there's an idea' and I think this might be it for me," she squealed, hugging her arms around herself. Lily beamed at her.

"Will you be giving up your flat?"

Alma scowled at her, and Lily almost laughed at how dramatically the girls' moods could shift, "In this day and age? A woman of my caliber? Don't be a fool, Evans, I have to have that security. What if we break up? What if he doesn't do his laundry every week? What if he lives on a futon?" she questioned. Lily chuckled, "I'm keeping it until it's clear we _can_ live together. I'll need that bloody escape if I hate his place, or if it goes badly."

"There's the strong independent woman I've come to know and love," Lily giggled. Alma rolled her eyes, but the effect was ruined by the constant twitching of the corners of her mouth, her dancing eyes, and the happy red flush of her cheeks.

"Do you want to read it or can I take it?" she asked impatiently, gesturing with her banana at the newspaper. Lily grinned and sat down on the bench by the newspaper, "Need me to stay for moral support? Protect you from the big bad printed words?"

"Please," Lily snorted, and Alma giggled, crouching down by the bench to read the article once more. She pet Lily's thigh in a condescending manner, her eyes twinkling.

"Don't worry Lily, I'm here."

* * *

Sirius' stomach rolled sickeningly as the other Trainees whispered about an article in the morning's _Prophet_ about You-Know-Who. He could feel his fear, like a burn, clutching at his insides in a vice tight grip. He wished Hestia were here, in front of him, so he'd know she was safe. He'd left for work that morning with a rising feeling of dread in his gut, leaving her asleep in his bed, needing to get out of there.

Was she still at his place? Was she still asleep? What if the Death Eaters had found her? Would he be going home to her dead body in his bed?

Surely not, he thought, shaking his head to rid himself of that terrible mental image. Moony would make sure nothing happened to her, if nothing else. And despite all that he was, Peter wouldn't have just let her be killed like that.

He looked up as a very confused James approached him, frowning, "You were gone before I even woke up," James said cautiously, sinking into his usual desk. Sirius' gray eyes zeroed in on _The_ _Prophet_ folded under his arm.

"Have you read it?" Sirius asked, his voice stilted with fear. James sighed.

"Not yet," he answered, looking up into Sirius' face, "You all right?"

"No," Sirius said simply. James' intelligent eyes analyzed him in the way that always made him uncomfortable, before he unfolded the _Prophet_ and handed it over.

"The both of you have a point you know," he said after a few moments of Sirius simply staring at the newspaper offered to him. Sirius glared at him, and James shrugged, unabashed, "You didn't use a Silencing Charm. We put it up when it became clear you weren't going to get to it."

Sirius felt the back of his neck heat up, wondering just what the others had heard, but kept his expression blank. He'd never ask what they'd heard. And he knew James would never bring it up.

James cleared his throat, shaking the paper tauntingly, "Shall we?"

With a resigned groan, Sirius unfolded it and laid it across both of their desks.

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed the chapter.**

 **Thank you for standing by the story and not letting the delayed updates get to you. I'd promise to have a quick update to you but I think I've learned not to make promises I can't keep, especially where this story is concerned. I can only promise that, yes, I do plan to finish it in its' entirety. Slow and steady, right?**

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